"Sopranos" actress Annabella Sciorra took the witness stand on Thursday and described how disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein allegedly violently raped her at her apartment.
Sciorra's testimony is the first and among the most highly anticipated at a pivotal moment in the #MeToo movement as Weinstein faces rape and sexual assault charges in New York.
The veteran actress, who grew up in Brooklyn, avoided using the mega-producer's name -- referring to him consistently as "the defendant" and positioning herself on the witness stand so that she was partially facing the jury as Weinstein sat over her right shoulder at the defense table.
In perhaps the most chilling moment of the morning's testimony, Sciorra rose and scanned the courtroom after being asked to identify Weinstein. She extended her hand in his direction and described what he was wearing: a black jacket, white shirt and white tie.
Weinstein stared at her and nodded his head his head as if to say hello. She ignored this gesture and returned to her seat, her face set in apparent discomfort.
Six women are expected to testify in the trial, and Weinstein is charged with crimes related to two of them. The rest, including Sciorra, are being called in support of prosecutors' efforts to demonstrate a pattern of sexual predation.
Actress Ellen Barkin sat in the back row of the gallery throughout Sciorra's testimony, as did Manhattan Disrtrict Attorney Cyrus Vance, who sat in the front row behind his prosecutors.
Emotional testimony
The actress said she first met Weinstein in at a Los Angeles party in 1990 or 1991, and at the end of the night she said he offered her -- and she accepted -- a ride home to her Malibu hotel. Their first encounter was uneventful, she testified. They talked about movies and he told her to send her any good scripts she might come across.
In an effort to help her friend Warren Light and the Naked Angel Theater Company, she sent Light's script for "The Night We Never Met," which had been written for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, to Weinstein. The producer asked for a reading, so they hosted one, with Sciorra reading for Parker's role as Parker could not make the reading.
Weinstein insisted Sciorra play Parker's part, the actress said, despite Sciorra's protestations.
"He said he would not produce the movie if I was not in it with Matthew. And I -- you know -- felt bad about that because it was specifically written about Sarah Jessica Parker, and I felt bad for my friend Warren Light. So, I agreed to go ahead and be in the movie," Sciorra testified.
Annabella Sciorra arrives to testify as a witness in the case of film producer Harvey Weinstein during his sexual assault trial in New York, Jan. 23, 2020.
Annabella Sciorra arrives to testify as a witness in the case of film producer Harvey Weinstein during his sexual assault trial in New York, Jan. 23, 2020.Lucas Jackson/Reuters
The movie was released in spring 1993. During the winter of 1993-94, Sciorra was invited to a dinner with Weinstein, actress Uma Thurman and several other individuals in New York. As she got up to leave the dinner around 9:30 p.m., Weinstein offered her a ride to her nearby Gramercy Park apartment.
"I went upstairs and got ready for bed," she said. "I washed my face brushed my teeth and I put on a nightgown."
The white cotton nightgown, she said, was her grandmother's and "had been given to me by my mother's cousin in Italy, because I didn't really have anything of my grandmother's because she died very young."
Without warning, there was a knock at the door, Sciorra said. She assumed it was a neighbor or the building doorman, so she opened it. Weinstein pushed himself inside and began walking through the apartment. She testified that it appeared he was looking to see if anyone else was in the apartment.
"Then he started to unbutton his shirt and I then realized he thought we were going to be having sex," she said.
Sciorra testified that she started backing up, thinking she could make it into her bathroom. With tears running from her eyes in the courthouse, she stood up and clasped her hands above her head to describe the way she claimed Weinstein pinned her down on a bed when she could not reach the bathroom.
"I was punching him, I was kicking him, I was just trying to get him away from me," Sciorra said, crying, but with her hands "locked" by him, she "couldn't fight any more."
At a certain point he stopped, she said, and ejaculated on her leg and nightgown, saying he had "perfect timing." She claimed he then forcibly performed oral sex on her, saying, "This is for you."
"I didn't have very much fight left inside of me at that point. I said, 'No! No!' But I mean, there was not much I could do at that point -- my body shut down. It was just so disgusting that my body started to shake in a way that was very unusual. I didn't really even know what was happening. It was like a seizure or something," Sciorra said.
Afterwards, she said, "The defendant left, he walked out."
Harvey Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court, Jan. 23, 2020, for the second day in his rape and sexual assault trial.
Harvey Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court, Jan. 23, 2020, for the second day in his rape and sexual assault trial.Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Two to six weeks later, she said she crossed paths with Weinstein in a restaurant.
"I confronted him about what happened in my apartment. I tried to talk to him about what happened. And I told him I woke up and that I had blacked out or fainted, and he said, 'That's what all the nice Catholic girls say.' And then he leaned into me and said, 'This remains between you and I,'" Sciorra said. "It was very menacing -- his eyes were black, and I thought he was going to hit me right there. He was threatening and I was afraid."
After the alleged attack, Sciorra said she resumed her life "to the best of my ability." That included a lot of crying, she said, and "what I now know is called dissociative experiences."
"I spent a lot of time alone, didn't want to see any people. I didn't want to talk about what happened. I disappeared," she said, adding as she choked back tears that she began to drink "a lot" and cut herself also "a lot."
She began painting a white wall "like a blood red color with tubes of oil paint." As she started cutting herself, she would put her blood on the wall amid the red paint, marking those spots with pieces of gold leaf.
Asked by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi why she did this, she paused and grew emotional.
"I don't know. I didn't feel good," she said.
Cross-examination
Defense attorney Donna Rotunno cross-examined Sciorra Thursday afternoon. Under her questioning, Sciorra explained why she didn't call the police about the alleged attack.
"At the time, I didn't understand that was rape," she responded.
Sciorra also said under questioning that she had not asked the doorman why he let Weinstein up without announcing him, determined whether there were cameras in the building, determined whether Weinstein signed in downstairs, or complained to the board about someone being let up to her apartment without notice.
"No," Sciorra said, staring back at Rotunno. "I was devastated."
Rotunno confirmed with Sciorra that at the time of the alleged attack she was 33, "a famous actress," and that "Harvey Weinstein and Miramax were not the only film company in town." The attorney also insinuated that Sciorra had shown up on the set of "The Night We Never Met" intoxicated. Sciorra denied this, although she did acknowledge she "was on Valium" during that period.
Referring to an event where Sciorra and Weinstein ran into each other after the alleged rape, Rotunno asked the witness, "When you saw Harvey Weinstein at the Miramax event, did you say to him, 'You raped me?'"
"Yes I did," Sciorra replied, appearing to stop Rotunno cold for a moment.
If you or someone you know experienced sexual assault and is seeking resources, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
