A supporting witness testified on Thursday that Harvey Weinstein masturbated on her at his hotel room in 2003, making her feel like “a piece of meat.”
Former actor Ashley Matthau, a “prior bad acts” witness whose claims aren’t among the 11 counts of sexual assault that Weinstein faces, was visibly rattled while taking the stand. Matthau’s hand shook as she was sworn in and she began crying before uttering a single word. Matthau dabbed her tears with a tissue and took deep, labored breaths while she waited for Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez to begin her questioning.
When Martinez asked how she was feeling, Matthau said, “I’m really upset.”
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Judge Lisa B. Lench encouraged Matthau to take a break and she was escorted out of the courtroom.
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When she came back, Matthau testified that Weinstein masturbated and ejaculated on her at his hotel in 2003 in Puerto Rico, where she was shooting a small role in Miramax’s “Dirty Dancing” sequel, “Havana Nights.”
Matthau didn’t seem to want to look directly at Weinstein when asked to describe the defendant, misidentifying the color of his suit jacket as blue before correcting herself.
Matthau, who used to be a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, was 22 at the time of the alleged incident. She said Weinstein came up to her on set and asked to walk outside to talk. After commenting that she was pretty, he said he wanted a “naked massage” from her, Matthau testified. When she said, “No, I’m engaged,” he asked for her fiancé’s name — director Charlie Matthau, son of actor Walter Matthau — and Weinstein claimed to know him. She said Weinstein then suggested that it would be a “naked massage” between friends.
“He said he did it with Gwyneth Paltrow. ‘Look what I did to her career,'” Matthau recalled.
Matthau said she later called her mom and fiancé, who advised her to ask for help. But neither the choreographer nor producer on the film that she confided in offered any assistance. When she returned after a meal break on-set, Matthau said Weinstein was waiting in front of the set with his assistant, Bonnie Hung.
“At that point, I felt better knowing that I wasn’t alone,” she said, recalling that Hung looked her in the eyes and told her not to worry. “I’ll be with you the entire time. He just wants to talk about future projects,” Matthau remembered her saying.
According to Matthau, the three entered a limo and drove to Weinstein’s hotel, where Hung abandoned her when they stepped into his room.
Matthau started crying on the stand again and recalled Weinstein getting aggressive as he “shoved” her on the bed and took off her clothes.
“It’s not like we’re having sex, it’s just naked cuddling,” he told her as she became “hysterical” and started crying, Matthau told the jury. Matthau said he then straddled her, fondled her breasts and masturbated.
“I had not idea what to do. I was scared,” she said. He ejaculated on her breasts and face, Matthau testified.
“I was just really thankful that I wasn’t raped. I remember wiping off, just getting dressed really fast and leaving really fast,” she said.
Matthau said that after the alleged assault, Weinstein contacted her once by phone to offer her a role in a movie, which she declined. She told the jury that she never worked on another Weinstein film again, but she did see him at a few industry events, including a pre-Oscars party, where she quickly ran the other way. (When her ex-husband, Charlie Matthau, was called to the stand after her testimony, he corroborated Matthau’s version of events, saying she avoided Weinstein at future run-ins. He also told the jury that he recalled speaking to his then-fiancé, at the time in 2003, and remembered her sounding “in shock” on a phone call after she met with Weinstein, telling him, “He had masturbated during the meeting.” Her mother other testified to corroborate her story, saying on the stand, “She was upset,” and that her daughter told her Weinstein “had asked her for something inappropriate.”)
On Friday, Matthau continued her testimony and was cross-examined by Weinstein’s defense attorney, Mark Werksman, who questioned her memory of the alleged events.
Matthau told Werksman that her recollection of meeting Weinstein on the set of “Havana Nights” is a bit fuzzy, but she recalls that there was buzz on the production that he would be showing up. She didn’t know him and said Weinstein is the one who first approached her. It was clear to her that he was sexually interested in her because he brought up a “naked massage.” She told Werksman that she tried to fend him off by repeatedly informing him that she was engaged to be married.
“He didn’t seem deterred at all by the fact that you were engaged?” Werksman asked Matthau, who said no.
Matthau said that she had told her mother and her fiancé that she was afraid of Weinstein because of the comments he made to her about the massage. Werksman questioned why she would go into a hotel room with Weinstein if she was afraid of him and knew he wanted to have sex with her. Matthau explained that when his assistant, Hung, was accompanying him, she believed it would be a safe and professional environment to discuss “future projects.” She repeated that Hung told her, “Don’t worry. I’ll be there the entire time.”
“I figured they were in charge, so I figured I should do what they said,” Matthau explained of why she agreed to leave the set and get in the car with Weinstein and Hung. She said that she didn’t leave the hotel room because she never imagined she would be assaulted in what she thought would be a professional environment. “I didn’t figure what was going to happen was going to happen.”
When Martinez asked her final questions on the stand, Matthau reiterated that she physically could not get out from under Weinstein and started to cry when he straddled her. She said she had been struggling and crying before Weinstein began to masturbate. “Did he stop at any point when you asked him to?” Martinez asks. Matthau replied no.
Following Matthau’s appearance in court, her attorney Elizabeth Fegan, managing partner of FeganScott, issued a statement on Friday to applaud her client’s testimony. “Over the last two days, my client Ashley M. shared her story, using her own voice to take back her power and hold Harvey Weinstein accountable for his actions,” Fegan said. “She delivered powerful testimony, and her bravery in doing so is commendable. I’m proud of her — and her mother — for standing up for all women and am honored to work alongside them in their fight for justice.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated and edited to reflect Ashley Matthau’s continued testimony on Friday, Oct. 28.
