A fashion influencer accused by one of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged victims of “roping” her into a hotel bathroom with the disgraced producer for an unwanted sexual encounter took the stand Wednesday, denying many key elements of the Jane Doe’s testimony in a heated, sometimes hostile and exasperated exchange with prosecutors.
Claudia Salinas, a model-actress and fellow model, was key to Jane Doe’s Monday testimony. Jane Doe 2 claimed that Salinas organized a meeting between her & Weinstein in 2013, and then led Jane Doe 2 into the Montage’s bathroom. She closed the door behind them. Jane Doe 2, who was assaulted in the bathroom, claimed that Salinas was outside and gave her an apology. “evil look.”
Salinas confirmed Jane Doe 2, who she met in 2012, as well as making fast friends. They connected via social media and exchanged numbers. At one point, Salinas asked her to meet with Weinstein.
“I always bring someone with me, because I don’t like to go alone,”She spoke.
Jane Doe 2 claimed that she was asked to bring her manuscript for a meeting, ostensibly about Weinstein. Salinas testified at one point that she denied this. “there was no script”And that “there must have been something that she was on the top of my head to invite her.”
“Did you bring Jane Doe 2 to the meeting to offer her up to Weinstein sexually?”Mark Werksman, defense lawyer, was asked.
“Absolutely not,”She replied.
“Were you in the business of procuring women for Mr. Weinstein to have sex with?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you act as a pimp for Mr. Weinstein?”
Salinas smiled slightly and stated: “No.”
“Did you tell her you could get Mr. Weinstein to look at a script for her?”
“There was no script.”
Jane Doe 2 asked her if she rode up an lift with Weinstein. “No.”Whether Jane Doe saw Jane Doe 2, go to a bathroom together with Weinstein. “No.” Whether she’d closed a bathroom door between Weinstein and Jane Doe 2. “Absolutely not.”If she was ever seen outside a restroom while a rape took place inside. “Absolutely not.”
Things turned testy when Paul Thompson, the prosecution’s chief of questioning was in charge. He then asked Salinas if her memory was correct. “fuzzy.”
Salinas: “I remember some things, it was pretty uneventful.”
Thompson: “As you sit here today it is your absolute sworn testimony that Jane Doe 2 did not discuss a screenplay with you?”
“Absolutely,”She replied.
Thompson: “You said when you parted company you left on good terms. … What happened on 2/19 to change that so that you never saw each other again?”
“Does she even live in LA?” Salinas replied.
“Answer my question please!”
“We fell out of touch, it happens!”
Salinas denied that she relied on Weinstein for financial support, employment, or anything – and said she had never been alone in a hotel suite with him.
“I would remember,”She said: “so I don’t remember ever being alone in a hotel suite with him.”
Thompson then asked Thompson: “How many times did you arrange a meeting between Weinstein and a woman in her early to mid 20s?”
“I never arranged any meetings,”She replied.
According to pool reports, Salinas seemed agitated after she left the stand.
Wednesday also saw Ambra B.’s testimony conclude. Ambra B. was an Italian model and actress who reported to police that she met Weinstein in 2015. This was the day in which Weinstein allegedly tried to kiss her breast and groped it when they were both alone. She told the same story at Weinstein’s New York trial in 2020, and audio captured from her attempt with detectives to get Harvey to admit to the assault was leaked to the press after the New York Times’ bombshell report.
Though nothing came of the failed sting – the recording equipment failed, and Weinstein never said anything incriminating, her report would be instrumental in Weinstein’s eventual arrest.
Weinstein is facing 11 sexual assault charges stemming from allegations dating back to 2004 and 2013. The trial is expected to last into December after a two-week jury selection process seated a panel last Thursday of nine men and three women. Weinstein could spend up to 140 Years in prison if convicted.
He is already serving 23 years in a New York prison for criminal first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape, a conviction he has been granted the right to appeal. Weinstein has maintained that he is innocent since the New York Times made allegations against him five year ago.