Harvey Weinstein accuser told him ‘I love you’ after alleged rape
HARVEY Weinstein today released emails sent by one of his accusers saying she "loved him" - as he argued to dismiss sexual assault charges against him.
The movie mogul, 66, has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and two of rape against three women and is due to stand trial later this year.
But his legal team - filing a motion to dismiss the charges against him - released a tranche of emails sent to him by one of the women from 2013 and 2017.
They are claiming the producer was “in a long-term, consensual, intimate relationship” with the accuser.
His lawayer Benjamin Brafman produced a selection of emails from 400 communications between the producer and the unnamed woman who has accused Weinstein of raping her in March 2013.
In one email, from February 2017, she wrote to him saying: “I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call.”
She wrote in the messages that Weinstein “is the bar” for the movie industry and commented on his “smile and beautiful eyes”.
In April 2013 – just under one month following the alleged rape – she wrote: “I hope to see you sooner than later.”
The next day she wrote: “I appreciate all you do for me, it shows.” Days later she added: “It would be great to see you again, and catch up!”
In August 2013 she wrote to give him her new phone number, saying: “Just wanted you to have it. Hope you are well and call me anytime, always good to hear your voice.”
On September 11, 2013, she wrote: “Miss you big guy.”
Weinstein's legal team filed documents saying the messages prove he was in a consensual relationship with the alleged victim.
His team claim the emails were sent shortly after the alleged rape and "present a picture of a woman who was showing affection for him", according to TMZ.
The messages allegedly come from a Weinstein Company address which he was barred from accessing after he was sacked from the firm.
Weinstein's legal team say the Manhattan DA knew of the emails but never presented them to the grand jury that indicted the 66-year-old.
They claim these are grounds for dismissal of the indictment.
The emails only relate to one woman and not the other two who are the subjects of the other indictments.
More than 70 women - including Hollywood A-listers such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie - have accused the Miramax co-founder of sexual misconduct.
The accusations gave rise to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of women publicly accused powerful men of sexual harassment.
Weinstein was charged after a months-long investigation by the New York Police Department.
After Weinstein was publicly implicated in sexual misconduct, his eponymous company Weinstein Co fired him and filed for bankruptcy.
He was expelled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences while London police and Los Angeles prosecutors have also been reviewing sexual assault accusations against him.
