Harvey Weinstein’s legal team aggressively challenged the credibility of accuser Kaja Sokola on Friday as part of the embattled movie mogul’s retrial in New York. Sokola, a former model and now a psychotherapist, alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 19 and began grooming her at age 16. Defense lawyer Mike Cibella attempted to paint her as a fame-seeker who pursued Weinstein for career gain.
Sokola denied ever having consensual sex with Weinstein, asserting he used her acting aspirations to manipulate and abuse her. “I never had a consensual relation with Mr. Weinstein,” she told jurors, emphasizing he “broke my dreams, and he broke my self-esteem.”
Weinstein, 73, is facing a criminal sex act charge related to Sokola’s claim he forced oral sex on her in 2006, a charge added after his 2020 conviction was overturned on appeal. That conviction involved other accusers, two of whom are testifying again.
The defense highlighted that Sokola didn’t originally include the 2006 incident in her civil lawsuit, which ended in a $3.5 million settlement. Cibella also questioned inconsistencies in her timeline and suggested her participation in the case might benefit her immigration status.
Sokola, now 39, testified she never received the acting opportunities Weinstein had dangled before her and that her aspirations were ultimately destroyed. Her testimony will continue next week as the retrial unfolds in this high-profile case central to the MeToo movement.
Source: Swifteradio.com
