Harvey Weinstein, once one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, recently underwent a retrial in Manhattan Supreme Court, where former Polish model Kaja Sokola revealed that the fallen film mogul allegedly dropped Gwyneth Paltrow’s and Penélope Cruz’s names during an alleged assault when she was just 16.
Though Paltrow accused Weinstein of sexual harassment after starring in the 1996 film Emma, and Cruz publicly condemned his behavior, the convicted sex offender allegedly used their names to take advantage of other women in the industry.
The Testimony of Kaja Sokola Against Harvey Weinstein
During the retrial on Thursday, May 8, Sokola, who accused Weinstein of sexual assault in a lawsuit, tearfully described the encounter as the most “horrifying thing I ever experienced.”
It all happened at a Manhattan apartment in 2002, when the former Miramax boss put his hand inside her underwear and made her touch his genitals.
After that, he asked her to keep quiet about what had happened and dropped the names of Paltrow and Cruz, claiming he had helped make their careers and could do the same for her—make her Hollywood dreams come true.
According to the suit, Sokola ended up giving up her acting dreams after the assault due to immense emotional pain and suffering.
“He told me to take my clothes off, and I didn’t want to do that. I was panicking,” she testified. “And then he said that if I want to be an actress, that’s what actors do in films, so I should get used to it. If a director says you have you take your clothes off, you have to take your clothes off. I was scared. I was scared of him.”
Alleged Name-Dropping as Manipulation
By the looks of it, Weinstein used the names of Paltrow and Cruz as a form of manipulation, suggesting they had previously engaged in similar interactions with him to advance their careers.
As per Sokola’s claim, this seemed to imply that submitting to his demands was just normal in Hollywood and award-winning actresses had supposedly done.
“I have to listen to him if I want to proceed with that career,” she continued during the retrial.
That said, by using the success stories of Paltrow and Cruz, Weinstein wanted the aspiring actress what he could do and not based on her compliance.
Power and Coercion
Weinstein’s mention of Paltrow and Cruz were not random. In fact, it appeared to be intentional, reinforcing his power and control.
Both actresses are known and famous internationally. They, too, have publicly acknowledged Weinstein’s early influence on their careers.
For starters, Weinstein significantly helped propel Paltrow’s career through his influence in the film industry, particularly with his company Miramax, which he co-founded with his brother, Bob Weinstein.
He leveraged his power to secure roles and production opportunities for her, notably in the 1998 movie Shakespeare in Love, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
As for Cruz, she worked with Weinstein in films Nine and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the latter movie, which Woody Allen directed.
“I, of course, have received a lesson in publicity. Harvey is very good at this,” she said in 2009, before winning the award.
By invoking their names, Weinstein managed to establish credibility, aligning himself with their success, and intimidate and silence his victims.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Experience at the Hands of Harvey Weinstein
Though Paltrow became the “first lady of Miramax,” it all came with a price.
In 2017, she claimed he assaulted her when she was just 22 after he summoned her to his hotel suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills for a work meeting for the movie Emma.
There, he put his hands on her and asked her to go to the bedroom for massages, which the same thing many Weinstein accusers revealed he had done.
“I was a kid. I was signed up; I was petrified,” she told the New York Times.
She then told her then-boyfriend, Brad Pitt, about it and the actor later confronted Weinstein. However, he threatened to fire the Goop founder if she ever talked about the incident again.
“He screamed at me for a long time,” she continued. “It was brutal.”
Penélope Cruz Condemns Harvey Weinstein’s Behavior
Though not among Weinstein’s accusers and was never personally harassed by him, Cruz has shown support for the victims.
At the time when accusations against Weinstein emerged in 2017, she wasn’t aware of the producer’s bad behavior. In fact, he was even respectful of her.
So, when the allegations broke the news, she admitted to being “shocked and profoundly sad.”
“I feel we must also speak on behalf of women who do not have a job in the public eye,” she said. “Housekeepers, teachers, doctors, lawyers—women no one gives a microphone to.”
Cruz continued that no one could say “everything is resolved.” However, she knew “everything that has come to light is so important.”
The revelations during Weinstein’s criminal trials have not only exposed the acts of sexual violence but also the patterns he used to control, silence, and intimate his victims.
Clearly, Paltrow and Cruz have nothing to do with the assaults. Their names were just used as sinister form of coercion, reinforcing his power and perpetuating a culture of abuse.