'He said he would give me a three movie deal but I had to watch him masturbate': New Harvey Weinstein accuser says he attacked her at Sundance Film Festival in 2008

  • Louisette Geiss says Weinstein propositioned her in his office at the festival in 2008 
  • She claims she was pitching a movie to him when he emerged from the bathroom naked in an unfastened robe
  • Weinstein got in a hot tub and asked her to continue pitching to him, she said
  • When she was finished, he allegedly 'pleaded' with her to watch him masturbate 
  • Geiss refused but he chased after her and promised to greenlight her movie if she would watch him pleasure himself 
  • Hers are the latest in an avalanche of claims against the embattled movie mogul
  • Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Asia Argento all came forward with stories about how Weinstein harassed or assaulted them on Tuesday  

Another woman came forward on Tuesday afternoon to say she had been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein. 

The latest in an avalanche of accusations against the producer came from actress and screenwriter Louisette Geiss who appeared at a press conference with high-profile attorney Gloria Allred to air her claims. 

She told how in 2008, a then newlywed Weinstein invited her to his office for a meeting during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah to discuss a movie she had written a script for.  

Geiss said that he insisted on listening to her pitch in his hot tub after emerging from the bathroom 30 minutes in to the meeting naked in an unfastened robe.  

She claims that he asked her to watch him masturbate and that when she told him she was leaving, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bathroom.  

'I kept talking as he got into the hot tub. When I finished my pitch, he asked me to watch him masturbate. 

'I told him I was leaving. He quickly got out of the hot tub,' she said on Tuesday. 

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Louisette Geiss said on Tuesday that Weinstein asked her to watch him masturbate at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and promised her a 'three movie deal in exchange' 

Geiss said she went to leave but that he followed her and promised her career perks, so long as she gave into his request. 

'As I went to get my purse to leave, he grabbed my forearm and led me to his bathroom, pleading that I just watch him masturbate. My heart was racing and I was very scared.

'I pulled my arm away finally and headed to the door.

'He started following me and telling me that he could introduce me to Bob Weinstein and that I could get a three-picture deal and that he would greenlight my script but I had to watch him masturbate. 

'I was on the verge of tears but I pulled it together and quickly exited,' she said. 

Hers are the latest in a string of accusations against Weinstein made by Hollywood actresses and film industry insiders who, together, chronicle decades of sexual harassment by the producer.  

Allred, who previously represented Bill Cosby and Donald Trump's accusers, said Geiss was not the first woman to contact her with complaints about Weinstein. 

The attorney's daughter Lisa Bloom was working with Weinstein in the early days of the scandal last week but has since stepped away from the case. 

The woman appeared with attorney Gloria Allred to speak at the press conference on Tuesday 

Weinstein (pictured at Sundance in 2008, left, and in New York last week, right) faces mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault
Weinstein (pictured last week) faces mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault 

Weinstein (pictured at Sundance in 2008, left, and in New York last week, right) faces mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault 

Allred condemned her daughter's involvement and said she would go up against her on behalf of any of Weinstein's accusers. 

Geiss has worked on TV shows including Two And A Half Men, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Drew Carey Show. 

Before Weinstein's advance on her, she said she had heard of Weinstein's reputation for harassment and made him promise not to touch her but that he laughed it off. 

Geiss teared up as she recalled the incident on Tuesday 

Geiss teared up as she recalled the incident on Tuesday 

The following year, she 'abruptly' quit the film industry.

She is now a mother-of-three and works in real estate. 

Allred said she is one of a number of women still seeking justice from the Hollywood powerhouse. 

'She is speaking out today because even though Harvey Weinstein has been terminated from his employment with the Weinstein Company, she and I both feel there has not been justice for many women who allege that they were victims of sexual harassment.' 

Allred suggested many of the women would be filing lawsuits against Weinstein who they were previously afraid of speaking out against. 

On Tuesday, DailyMail.com revealed that Weinstein, 65, has hired Los Angeles lawyer Patty Glaser. 

Their strategy was laid bare by sources who say they plan to go after and discredit his accusers. 

In her statement on Tuesday, Geiss slammed the strategy and said he was trying to belittle the scandal. 

'He is still saying he wants to sue the NY Times for defamation and he's pleaded with the Hollywood Elite to give him a second chance.

'He is breeding doubt about the stories that women have told and making light of his actions by stating this is such a good story, he wants to buy the movie rights.

'I do not think Harvey fully comprehends how much pain he has inflicted on me and scores of other women,' she said.  

WEINSTEIN'S ACCUSERS 

Harvey Weinstein has been slammed with multiple accusations of sexual harassment after a report detailing a $100,000 settlement he reportedly made to Rose McGowan in the mid-'90s emerged this week.

Below are some of the women who have accused Weinstein of harassing them, or other women.

Angelina Jolie said she had to turn down Weinstein's advances as a young actress

Angelina Jolie said she had to turn down Weinstein's advances as a young actress

Gwyneth Paltrow: The star told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom before she started shooting Emma. She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul 

Angelina Jolie: Jolie told the Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in the late 1990s and she chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him

Louisette Geiss:  Actress was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting

Judith Godreche: The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996

Dawn Dunning: Aspiring actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects. When she arrived Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel

Tomi-Ann Roberts: Weinstein met her when she was serving tables and told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived he was in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was naked. She says she refused and left

Asia Argento: The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21. 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.'  She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva 

Katherine Kendall: The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening. He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her

Lucia Evans: Aspiring actress claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan 

Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22

Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22

Mira Sorvino: The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career

Rosanna Arquette:  The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims

Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he approached her during production of that movie. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head

Career suicide: Mira Sorvino revealed how her career nose-dived after she turned down Weinstein's advances 

Career suicide: Mira Sorvino revealed how her career nose-dived after she turned down Weinstein's advances 

Ashley Judd: Judd's film roles include the thriller Kiss the Girls - and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.'

Emma De Caunes: French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010, soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his hotel room, where he began to take a shower. He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didn’t want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.'

Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein's in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and 'several' other women; she later settled out of court

Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein's in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and 'several' other women; she later settled out of court

Lauren O'Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said.

Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.

Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge.

Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.

Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein's based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court.

Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property

Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property

Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.

Liza Campbell: A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.

Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.

Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job.

Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt "violated" following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in "Atonement", said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'. "Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein," she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'.   

 

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