NEW YORK _ Aspiring actress Dawn Dunning, testifying Wednesday for the prosecution in Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse trial, told the jury how the Oscar-sinning producer insisted that joining him for a menage a trois was the best way to kick-start her career.
"He kind of just cut to the chase and said, 'Here's contracts for my next three films. I'll sign them today if you have a threesome with me and my assistant,'" Dunning recounted of her encounter with Weinstein in the spring of 2004. "I mean, when he said that, I laughed. I thought he was kidding. He kind of has a crass (sense of) humor."
Dunning recalled how she became more and more unnerved after realizing Weinstein was serious, with the producer warning that this was her best opportunity to launch a successful acting career.
"He said, 'You'll never make it in this business. This is how the industry works,'" recalled Dunning about the encounter inside the Intercontinental Hotel in Manhattan. "And at that point, I was scared. I didn't know what he was going to do. I literally ran down the hall to the elevator ... He was screaming."
The would-be actress said she jumped into the first cab that stopped and went home, leaving Weinstein behind in only a white hotel bathrobe. Weinstein's assistant, who was mentioned as the other member of the threesome, was sitting in the room with a "blank" look on her face, Dunning said.
Dunning recounted how she was working as a cocktail waitress when she first met Weinstein, hoping he could provide her with a break into the business.
Weinstein's assistant called Dunning in the spring of 2004, asking her to swing by a boutique hotel where a movie shoot was going on outside. She was led inside by Weinstein, who brought Dunning up to his suite with a bedroom located off the section used as an office.
"I was talking with Harvey and he kind of led me into the other room and I sat next to him on the bed," she recounted. "I was wearing a skirt that day, and he put his hand up the skirt."
Dunning, on the verge of tears, testified that she was vaginally penetrated by Weinstein during the unwanted encounter.
"There were no red flags or alerts or anything else that would make me expect this to happen," she testified. "I just kind of froze for a minute and then stood up. He told me not to make a big deal about it. He apologized and said it wouldn't happen again."
Her experience with Weinstein, 67, who faces life behind bars if convicted on the top counts for his alleged sexual abuse of two New York women, convinced Dunning to give up her dreams of acting.
"I still did art projects with friends," she testified. "I stopped just really pursuing it."
Dunning was followed to the witness stand by Tarale Wulff, 43, a waitress who testified that Weinstein led her to a dark unused terrace at the well-known Cipriani's restaurant. Weinstein directed the woman to stand in front of him, and then she noted his white shirt was moving up and down.
"I realized he was masturbating, and I just, I froze for a second," she testified. "And then I ... ran past him."
Both women were called, as was actress Annabella Sciorra last week, to testify regarding Weinstein's prior bad acts as part of the Manhattan criminal case. He is facing trial on counts involving just two of the 90 women who alleged they were sexually abused by the producer.
Wulff was to return to the witness stand later Wednesday to testify about her alleged rape by Weinstein.
Dunning, wrapping up her direct testimony, was asked by prosecutor Meghan Hast if she had anything to gain by testifying against the Hollywood heavyweight.
"No, if anything I'm losing," she testified. "This is the worst and hardest thing I've ever done."
