The former roommate of Harvey Weinstein accuser Mimi Haleyi testified Tuesday in his rape and sexual-assault trial, claiming that Haleyi had told her about the alleged sexual assault.
Testimony from this former roommate, Elizabeth Entin, came one day after Haleyi testified that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in July 2006 at his Soho apartment. Sobbing at times, Haleyi had alleged that the six-foot-tall, some 300-pound Weinstein was physically overpowering, ignoring her repeated refusals.
Entin claimed that Haleyi came forward with the allegation one evening in summer 2006, when they were both at their Alphabet City apartment.
“She was standing in my doorway, normally she would flop on my bed and talk,†Entin said. “She was very nervous. She was pacing. She seemed anxious, and she began to talk to me and seemed very — not the typical, comfortable way we normally spoke among each other.â€
“It was odd for her not to completely come into my room, and sort of stand at my doorway,†Entin said.
“What was the substance of that conversation?†asked Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast.
“She seemed very nervous. She said that she had gone to the apartment of Harvey Weinstein, and she assumed it was, you know, work-related.â€
Entin then recalled Haleyi’s alleged account of what had happened.
“She came in, he started rubbing her shoulders, kissing her, and she said, ‘No, no,’ and he wouldn’t stop.â€
“She said, ‘I’m on my period.’ He said, ‘I don’t care,’ at which point, he threw her down, and she was still saying stop, and he pulled off her underwear, pulled out her tampon, and went down on her while she was saying no,†Entin claimed.
“What was your reaction?†Hast asked.
“I said, ‘Miriam, that sounds like rape.’†Entin also recalled asking, “Why don’t you call a lawyer?â€
“She still seemed very distraught,†Entin remembered, saying Haleyi “was shaking and didn’t want to talk.†She asked about calling a lawyer again, but didn’t continue right away, saying, “I didn’t feel it was right to keep pushing.â€
When Haleyi was standing there later that night, and “still just didn’t seem very composed,†she asked again about a lawyer but didn’t press the issue.
“I didn’t feel it was my place or right to take over how someone deals with rape,†she said.
Before the alleged incident, the two women “would always laugh and talkâ€; after, “she was much more withdrawn,†Entin said.
“She seemed more nervous, significantly less vital,†Entin said, describing Haleyi as withdrawn. “She spent a lot of time in her room.â€
Entin’s testimony is not the first time prosecutors have brought in a witness to back up one of Weinstein’s accusers. Rosie Perez testified on Friday that Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra told her that Weinstein raped her.
On Monday, Haleyi had testified of the alleged assault: “I just said, ‘No, no, I don’t want this to happen. This is not going to happen. I’m on my period … I was just trying to tell him anything to make him stop.â€
Entin also recalled alleged interactions between Haleyi and Weinstein leading up to the alleged assault. In the late spring or early summer of 2006, she joined Haleyi at an event. There, Entin met Weinstein.
“He came up and shook my hand. I was politely introduced, and then he put his arm around Miriam, his hand on her stomach, and pulled her to him and said, ‘This is the hottest woman I know,’†Entin said. “She was trying to be very polite, and I felt a little mitigating, and very uncomfortable.â€
At this point in Entin’s testimony, Weinstein grumbled.
Entin also told jurors that Haleyi told her about Weinstein bursting into their apartment, demanding that she join him in Paris. Haleyi had testified that this was around two weeks before Weinstein’s alleged assault.
“So she called me, and she said, ‘Something kind of weird happened,’ and she seemed a little disoriented, and she said that Harvey Weinstein showed up at our apartment and pushed his way into the apartment,†Entin claimed. “And I was a little startled, and I was like, ‘What happened?’ and she said, ‘He just, you know, pushed his way in,’ and then we started kind of laughing about it because, apparently, my dog, this small Chihuahua, was chasing him around, and he was kind of frightened about it.â€
“So we laughed about that,†Entin said. “He said, ‘What is this thing? Get it away from me!’â€
“At the time, prior to the rape, I didn’t think it was going to go that far,†Entin reflected. “We saw it as kind of a pathetic older man, trying really hard to hit on Miriam.â€
“So we kind of laughed it off.â€
Update, February 24: Harvey Weinstein’s verdict has been announced.