NEW YORK _ Harvey Weinstein wouldn't take no for an answer when a New York production assistant told him she was on her period to rebuke his sexual advances, she said.
The disgraced movie mogul pinned Mimi Haleyi down in a surprise attack at his Manhattan residence, removed her tampon and performed oral sex on her without her consent, she told reporters Tuesday.
"He held me down on the bed. I tried to get away, tried to get him off me, and kept asking him to stop but it was impossible. He was extremely persistent and physically overpowering. He then orally forced himself on me, while I was on my period," Haleyi said, her voice cracking with emotion.
"He even pulled my tampon out. I was mortified. I was in disbelief and disgusted. I would not want anyone to do that to me, even if the person was a romantic partner," she said.
"I remember Harvey afterwards rolling over on to his back and saying, 'Don't you feel we're so much closer to each other now?'" she recalled.
Haleyi spoke out Tuesday in a news conference with her lawyer Gloria Allred.
Allred is representing three accusers who have gone public with accusations against the co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Co. _ and says "numerous" other women have contacted her as well.
She described Weinstein's alleged assault on Haleyi as a "new low."
More than 40 women including actresses Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvio, Lupita Nyong'o and Lauren Holly have accused Weinstien of sexual harassment.
Actresses Rose McGowan, Asia Argento and Lucia Evans say Weinstein forced sex acts on them without consent.
Weinstein entered an undisclosed treatment program after exposes in The New York Times and The New Yorker uncovered a pattern of sexual harassment claims and settlements going back decades.
He has denied forcing nonconsensual sex on anyone, his spokeswoman previously said.
