<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
     xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
     xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
     xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
     xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
     xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss"
     xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#"
     xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/">
    <channel>
        <title><![CDATA[Weinstein’s ex-assistant describes how he tried to rape her in new documentary]]></title>
        <atom:link href="https://usagag.com/2020/04/07/weinsteins-ex-assistant-describes-how-he-tried-to-rape-her-in-new-documentary/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
        <link>https://usagag.com/2020/04/07/weinsteins-ex-assistant-describes-how-he-tried-to-rape-her-in-new-documentary/</link>
        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2020 22:18:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
        <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
        <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
        <generator>https://usagag.com</generator>
        <media:content url="/uploads/2020/04/chiu.jpg" medium="image">
            <media:title type="html">Weinstein’s ex-assistant describes how he tried to rape her in new documentary</media:title>
        </media:content>
        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Harvey Weinstein’s</strong> former assistant will share her story of abuse at the hands of the disgraced mogul and describe the decades it took her to come to terms with the trauma in a new documentary series.</p><p>“On the day of sentencing when he got 23 years, that was very vindicating,” Rowena Chiu, 45, told The Post. “He has destroyed so many lives.”</p><p>Weinstein was <strong>convicted earlier this year</strong> of forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping hairstylist Jessica Mann.</p><p>A Manhattan Supreme Court<strong> judge sentenced him to 23 years</strong> – just six years shy of the maximum – and the case gave <strong>many of his victims a measure of closure.</strong></p><p>“I was in tears from the testimony,” Chiu said. “They [the victims who testified] really represented all of us who were unable to come forward.”</p><p>The series “Harvey Weinstein: ID Breaking Now” will feature interviews from Chiu and other Weinstein accusers, including actress Rosanna Arquette and <strong>Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez</strong>.</p><p>Chiu came out publicly last year in the book “She Said,” penned by the New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey &#8212; the first to report the bombshell sexual harassment and assault allegations against the once-mighty producer.</p><figure id="attachment_5211862"  class="wp-caption alignnone aligncenter"><strong><noscript><img data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/chiu.jpg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/04/chiu.jpg" /></noscript></noscript><img class="lazyload" src='data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3E' data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/chiu.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Rowena Chiu is seen outside the ITV Studios in London earlier this year.</span><span class="credit">GC Images/Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><p>The former Miramax assistant, then 24, said that Weinstein tried to rape her in 1998 during a late-night meeting at the Venice Film Festival.</p><p>It was just two months into her new job, and she had worn two pairs of tights to help fend off his advances.</p><p>Chiu said Weinstein pushed her against a bed and tried to force himself on her, but she wriggled free. She tearfully told her friend &#8212; then-fellow Weinstein assistant, Zelda Perkins &#8212; what happened.</p><p>But their attempts to report the Hollywood titan to his superiors weren&#8217;t taken seriously. They hired lawyers, reached a $426,000 settlement and signed non-disclosure agreements, forbidding them from discussing the attack.</p><p>During the meeting, <strong>Weinstein allegedly told the women</strong>, “I truly apologize for the pain I’ve caused you … Sometimes [I] don’t know when it’s consensual. Trying to learn.”</p><p>The contractually enforced silence was crushing for Chiu and alienated her from her friends and family.</p><p>“It was a very difficult number of years after signing the NDA, the business of not speaking is a huge burden to bear,” she said. “I attempted to commit suicide twice three years after signing the agreement. It was an incredible struggle and eventually, I rebuilt my life.”</p><p>Chiu left the film industry and is now a stay-at-home mom of four living in Palo Alto, California.</p><p>She hopes that the documentary will keep the spotlight on the #MeToo movement.</p><p>“It took a long time, an entire movement for some survivors to have the courage to come out,” she said.</p><p>“I would hope that when the world finally gets back to business after coronavirus some of that momentum will continue.”</p><p>The first installment of the program will air on the Investigation Discovery network this Sunday at 10 p.m.</p>]]></content:encoded>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[USAGAG]]></dc:creator>
            </channel>
</rss><!--Time: 0.050763845443726-->