First Harvey Weinstein Witness Gets Searing Interrogation by Prosecutor
First Harvey Weinstein Witness Gets Searing Interrogation by Prosecutor
(Bloomberg) -- A movie director who worked for Harvey Weinstein told the jury at Weinstein’s sexual assault trial that actor Annabella Sciorra once confided she’d done a “crazy thing” with the producer, as the defense used its first witness to undercut her claim of rape.
Later, on cross-examination, prosecutors came gunning for the witness, Paul Feldsher, confronting him with a series of text messages he exchanged with the fallen Hollywood power broker after women began to come forward with allegations of assault against Weinstein in 2017. In one message he said Weinstein had a “sex addiction” and called Sciorra a “liar” -- though she was his friend -- when he learned she’d be a witness against Weinstein.
“I think the dog pile of actresses who are suddenly brave and recalling repressed memories are hideous,” he told Weinstein.
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi asked Feldsher what he meant when he derided Sciorra and other Weinstein accusers.
“That’s how I wanted to describe it, and I stand by the description, whether or not that’s what Harvey wanted to hear,” Feldsher said.
Weinstein, 67, has been charged with rape and predatory sexual assault for alleged attacks on two women and could go to prison for the rest of his life if convicted. He maintains the encounters were consensual and mutually beneficial.
Over the objections of the defense, New York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke has permitted the Manhattan district attorney to call several other women, including Sciorra, to testify to their experiences with the producer. Prosecutors rested their case Thursday morning.
Feldsher started his testimony under questioning from defense attorney Donna Rotunno. He told the jury of seven men and five women that he and Sciorra were friends in the 1990s. He said that during a long walk she confided to him that she’d had a sexual encounter with Weinstein, saying she’d done “this crazy thing” with him. Feldsher testified there was nothing in her tone to suggest she’d been assaulted.
“There was no component about what she said that I found shocking or alarming,” he said. “I don’t recall it being stressful, and I think I would be a horrible friend if I don’t remember having any more conversation about it.”
Prosecutors had shown the jury an email indicating Weinstein directed that Feldsher be paid $60,0000 out of his personal account as journalists were digging into the claims against the producer in 2017. Feldsher told the jury it was a payment for technical assistance he’d provided on a movie.
He also testified that he’d seen Sciorra drink and knew she took antidepressants and that he once took her and her boyfriend to his psychiatrist to get them medication.
On cross-examination, as Illuzzi showed him the text messages he’d sent Weinstein, Feldsher told the court he’d been in nearly constant contact with the producer since the claims were leveled against him and that he felt bad for him and worried it would be “very difficult for him to be the recipient of due process.”
Feldsher began to seem rattled as Illuzzi grilled him about a January 2018 text.
“Did you say, ‘Your appetites and ambitions for the things you wanted, a script, a movie and, yes, a girl were voracious?’” Illuzzi asked.
“Voracious, yes,” Feldsher said. “What I meant by that was that Harvey was dogged in his pursuit of projects and material.”
Illuzzi persisted, asking Feldsher if Weinstein was “voracious” in his pursuit of women.
“I meant it was my understanding for a very long time that Harvey had a sex addiction and he dated a lot of women,” Feldsher said.
“Did you go on to say, ‘If a lot of these girls had been my daughter, I’d want to beat the sh-- out of you’?” Illuzzi asked.
“I think I was trying, obviously, my daughter is 13, so the thought of anyone in that context I find abhorrent at this point. I guess I was trying to put into context, look, I was trying to be a friend and say, ‘I know the extremes of your personality, I know the extremes of your appetites,’ but I did not believe that he was capable of the things that he had been charged with.”
Illuzzi noted that even as he put Sciorra down, and hadn’t spoken to her in years, he claimed to still care about her as a friend.
“I think both can be true,” Feldsher said.
“Sir, is it correct that you were saying things that you thought Harvey Weinstein wanted to hear?” Illuzzi asked.
“Um, yes,” said Feldsher, who acknowledged that Weinstein had sent him a text declaring, “I love u.”
“And that’s what you’re doing today, aren’t you, sir?” Illuzzi said, raising her voice. “Saying things in this courtroom that you think Harvey Weinstein wants to hear?”
“Categorically no,” Feldsher said.
Illuzzi then confronted him with his testimony that Weinstein was “a sex addict.”
“I believe he had a voracious appetite for women,” Feldsher said frostily. “I’m not a clinician. I knew he had this voracious appetite that, yes, also applied to his appetite for women.”
Illuzzi asked Feldsher about the flurry of texts he sent Weinstein in the wake of the allegations in 2017 and into 2018, when Weinstein was charged.
“I stand by every text I wrote. I had no idea my text messages were going to end up in a courtroom,” he said. “I’m learning a lot.”
The case is People v. Weinstein, 450293/2018, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
Read More
To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.