Harvey Weinstein’s Youngest Alleged Victim Speaks Out

Kaja Sokola, a 16-year old model who had just arrived from Poland in September 2002, was there. While attending an event whose guest list was curated by her agency — NEXT Model Management, one of the biggest and most successful modeling firms in the world — the 5’11” teen with a dream of becoming an actress met movie producer Harvey Weinstein. At the peak of his power, he was fifty years old. She was the first person to live apart from her parents.

“People at the event said, ‘This is the king of Hollywood, and he can make everything happen,’”Sokola recalls. “He said, ‘If you want to be an actress, I can see you have potential and I would like to meet with you for lunch and discuss it.’ Of course, I’ve heard, ‘Do not go out for dinners. People can put all sorts of drugs in your drinks.’ But a lunch seemed safe.”

Sokola told the truth in a 2019 lawsuit. Rolling StoneShe gave her number to Miramax moguls behind these films. Shakespeare in LoveAnd Pulp Fiction. She recalls that he called her three days later and said that he would pick her up at lunch. Weinstein asked Sokola about her age while they were sitting in the car. He asked Sokola her age. She said she was 16. The driver dropped the two off at Weinstein’s Soho apartment. When the elevator door opened directly into Weinstein’s home, she realized that they were alone. Sokola claims that Weinstein sexually assaulted Sokola within minutes and then ejaculated her on the floor. Terrified, she attempted to run, but Weinstein blocked her exit and kept her still by her arms. In an effort to normalize the situation, Weinstein insisted that what just happened was commonplace for him and threw out the names of Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz as women whose careers he’d helped. Sokola says that he held her arms in his hands and offered her some advice. He advised the teenager to get over her stubbornness.

It was February, cold and windy., Sokola, now 35, sits in front of a floor-to-ceiling window in her attorney’s downtown Manhattan office and recounts that day. She is wearing a bright blue sweater, which stands out against the dark skyline. Today marks her first public interview with a reporter.

Since the New York Times opened the floodgates with a damning report about him in 2017 — ushering in Hollywood’s #MeToo era — more than 80 Weinstein accusers have surfaced, spanning from Oscar-winning actresses to powerless assistants. Public interest in his crimes continues, with Ken Auletta’s bestselling Weinstein biography Hollywood EndsDropping the same week as the trailer She saidDramatization of Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s blockbuster investigation.

But Sokola’s case is unique. Sokola is the youngest Weinstein accuser. And her civil suit against the disgraced producer remains one of the last standing, with most post-2005 claimants having settled as part of a bankruptcy proceeding related to the collapse of Miramax amid Weinstein’s downfall. Nearly all civil claims filed before 2005 were exempted from the statute of limitations. New York passed the Child Victims Act in 2019. It briefly gave victims of sexual abuse underage access to legal representation. Sokola’s attorney Doug Wigdor, who is best known for taking on Fox News by filing more than a dozen sexual harassment lawsuits against the network, seized upon the opening. (On behalf of Weinstein, his attorney Imran H. Ansari of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins PC, states that his client “categorically and emphatically” denies Sokola’s allegations. Ansari says that “a timeline of events, corroborated by other evidence, including witness testimony, will refute Ms. Sokola’s allegations of sexual abuse as a minor, that were statutorily required to be alleged in her complaint in order to sue Mr. Weinstein under the Child Victims Act and not be time-barred due to the passing of the statute of limitations.”Weinstein spokesperson claims that Weinstein didn’t buy the apartment in Soho where Sokola alleges that the attack took place until 2005.

Even more intriguing, Sokola’s suit takes direct aim at Disney, the former parent company of Miramax that has emerged from the Weinstein debacle unscathed despite footing all of Weinstein’s business expenses from 1993 to 2005. The December 2019 complaint was filed. New York State: “During the time Disney owned Miramax, Miramax paid settlements to multiple women who were victims of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and abuse. Based on Disney’s control of Miramax finances, Disney knew or should have known of these payments, which should have caused additional inquiry and investigation.”(Disney didn’t respond to a request of comment. While nearly all of Weinstein’s accusers were of age at the time of their respective incidents, at least one other underage claimant has surfaced, echoing Sokola’s allegations. A Tennessee Jane Doe claimed that Weinstein falsely imprisoned her and raped her when she was just 17 years old.

Sokola’s suit, which also names Bob Weinstein and Miramax as defendants, notes that Disney employed and paid the salaries of many of the people who helped facilitate Weinstein’s predatory behavior. Bob Weinstein’s attorney Gary Stein says, “This suit is yet another attempt to hold Bob Weinstein responsible for an alleged sexual assault committed by Harvey Weinstein that Bob had nothing to do with. Numerous similar claims have been filed against Bob over the past several years. Each and every one of them has been dismissed by the courts.”Miramax’s attorney did not respond to our request for comment.

Sokola untucks her arms and relaxes, while a tattoo of the word is placed on her arm. “om”Sees through her wool sleeve. “It was the company’s car, chauffeur, the phones, the assistants, all of that,”She speaks of her case. “[Perhaps the driver] couldn’t say exactly how old I am, but I looked more 14 than 16 at the time.” As for Disney’s complicity, she notes wryly: “Mickey Mouse stopped being the Mickey Mouse that [I loved]. I was at the age when I just grew out of watching Disney movies a few years earlier.”

Growing up in Poland, Sokola didn’t aspire to be a model. She loved acting. Her friends and she went to the local cinema often. At 14 years old, her sister and mother snapped photos of Sokola and submitted them to a modeling contest. She was awarded the prize and was soon taken to Paris and Milan to begin work on advertising campaigns and to appear in magazines. ElleAnd Marie Claire. Her face was suddenly featured on the covers of European fashion magazines. “It was very fast and it happened all naturally,”She says. “So my idea was that, ‘OK, people like you, and if you have the right timing, things can happen in a splash of the moment.’”

At 16 she signed with NEXT, and she moved to New York with a boyfriend. She was still in the hand-holding stage with her boyfriend.

“She was a kind of inspiration because she was super nice. She was extremely beautiful. And she was very good at school,”Karolina, a friend of Sokola’s from when they were 13, remembers Karolina. (She asked this question. Rolling StoneDo not use her full name. “We were just like typical teenagers from Poland.”

Sokola was able to make a fast change. She met Weinstein within a month after she arrived in New York. (Weinstein’s attorney provided an affidavit from Helga Rose Samuelson, a former assistant to photographer Marco Glaviano, who said, “I am of the conviction that Kaja Sokola and Harvey Weinstein met in late 2005, during the time she was staying with me in Marco Glaviano’s apartment in the CitySpire building in New York City, and not in 2002, as she has now claims [sic].”)

Sokola claims that Weinstein made promises to her to help her career over the years following the alleged Soho apartment attack. He did just enough to keep Sokola on the hook. He made it possible for her to appear on his reality television show. Project Runway. Weinstein met Sokola when she was twenty years old and connected her to Marilyn Gauthier (founder of Marilyn Agency in Paris, New York). Sokola recalls sitting with Gauthier and two bookers while Weinstein’s voice boomed through on a speaker phone. “He said, ‘This girl is a friend of mine and I have big plans for her regarding movies, and she’s switching modeling agencies, so we’ve got to do the best for her,’” Sokola says. Marilyn Agency spokeswoman says Gauthier left the modeling company about ten years ago. They do not have contact information.

By fall 2005, Weinstein made an even bigger promise. “‘I have a part for you in a movie with a huge actress, a ginormous movie,’”Sokola says that he said it. The movie was The Nanny DiariesThe film, which was shot in spring 2006, stars Scarlett Johansson. Sokola recalled that Johansson was sitting with her at a dinner table when she got to the set. “‘You’re going to be visible on the screen. You’re going to for sure have your moment,’” she recalls Weinstein saying. “Of course, I was an extra.”

Weinstein also wrote Sokola a recommendation for the Lee Strasberg Actor Studio. Rolling StoneThe letter was viewed by the author, which was dated June 20, 2006 and written on Weinstein letterhead. It was signed by Kelly Carmichael (a former Weinstein executive who is now a successful producer for such films). The Eyes of Tammy Faye The 355. The letter gushed about Sokola’s “talent, drive, and work ethic”And called her a “gifted actress.”

“All the time he was repeating, ‘You know what? It really is possible for you. I have an eye, obviously. I know who’s going to make it, and you will. But you have to be good to me and then I’m going to be good to you, and this is just between us. You have to remember that,’” Sokola says.

Sokola struggled to deal with the shame and guilt surrounding the Soho apartment attack. She took responsibility for her own actions. She blamed herself. At 23 she quit modeling.

“I still could work. I was in New York. I had some good Fashion Weeks, I had some good opportunities,”She explains. “But I started self-sabotaging my every success because I was feeling that I could not be worth it.”

She couldn’t maintain friendships or healthy romantic relationships. Her weight fluctuated wildly.

“She came back a different person,” says Karolina. “More like introvert or maybe she was just, her head a bit in a different world, but never said anything. I could see that something is going on. I can see it from her appearance.”

Sokola will be a leading company in the next 10 years.It was kept secret that the Weinstein trauma had occurred. She claims she shared some of her experiences with DNA Model Management scouts, but otherwise went on with her day. With a master of science degree in psychology from the SWPS University, Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw she began her practice in Poland as both a clinical psychologist/psychotherapist. Her focus was on treating eating disorders and addictions. Sokola was contacted by DNA in 2017. She provided a link that led to an article on Paltrow’s story about being sexually harassed, intimidated, and threatened by Weinstein.

“When I saw her name, Gwyneth Paltrow, oh my God, this was like, I don’t know, like a huge rock fell off my chest. I was not the stupid, naive little girl,”She says. “This happened even to an actress who was big like this. This was when I decided to reach out to the lawyers.”

It took another two years before the passage of New York’s Child Victims Act, which allowed Sokola to file her suit. The motions to dismiss were filed by Miramax, Disney, and the Weinstein brothers. In disputing Sokola’s claims, Harvey Weinstein’s team has argued, in part, that the Child Victims Act is unconstitutional, while Disney, Miramax, and Bob Weinstein claimed that they can’t be held liable for Harvey Weinstein’s actions. The Covid backlog has meant that the case is moving at a glacial rate. Sokola’s lawyers intend to keep the legal pressure on Disney, Bob Weinstein, and Miramax, which is now owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Pictures.

“Harvey could not do what he did to these women if he was not enabled by scores of people,” says Lindsay Goldbrum, one of Sokola’s attorneys.

Some observers who have a vested interest in Disney, like heiress Abigail Disney, say it’s high time that the company that once owned Miramax during Weinstein’s most prolific period of predation acknowledge its own culpability. “Harvey was an open secret,” Disney says, “I mean, it wasn’t even a secret. Everyone knew what Harvey was about, and that was just fine as long as everybody saw it as, ‘Well, this is just how business is done.’ Nobody had the moral clarity to step up and say, ‘Well, not here. We don’t do it that way here.’ I think Disney needs to step up. When you’ve done a wrong thing, even if it’s only by stepping back and letting something happen, that’s still a wrong thing to do. And you have to take responsibility.”

Sokola is celebrated on this February dayHer three-year old son and she are preparing to return home to Poland. However, war in Ukraine is on the horizon and Poland will be left to deal with the refugee crisis. Although Sokola is nervous about the future, she’s eager to return to her psychology practice, where she feels like she’s making a difference. Her own healing journey was also helped by her work.

“It showed me a completely different perspective on life and it kind of separated me from my problems,”She says. “Working with people, writing my thesis. I started to work also with people, with girls and boys with eating disorders, and I finally felt like this is something that is worth living for and doing, because I understand it and I came from this place, and I can step in their shoes and really know how to work with problems like this.”

She still hopes to sue Weinstein and his associates.

“Nobody’s untouchable right now,”She says. “I am very curious if Harvey looks in the mirror and he still thinks, ‘All these bitches,’ or if he has any kind of reconciliation of what he has done.” As for Weinstein’s inner circle, Sokola says, “I would ask, ‘Was it worth it?’ Because there’s no shadow of doubt in me that they knew.”