A former producer of the Netflix show “Marco Polo” was repeatedly raped and threatened by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein over a period of five years, a new lawsuit charges.
Alexandra Canosa detailed the years of alleged abuse in Manhattan Supreme Court papers filed Monday, four months after filing a bare-bones claim against Weinstein and the board of directors of The Weinstein Company.
Canosa, who was an associate producer at TWC, lists at least nine instances starting in 2010 in which Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulted, raped, verbally abused or forced her into performing sex acts.
The attacks occurred in hotels in Manhattan and Los Angeles, including the Tribeca Grand and Peninsula Hotel, as well as abroad in Malaysia and Budapest, Hungary.
“On many occasions, Harvey Weinstein insisted on meeting with plaintiff in isolated environments for business purposes, made sure that no other persons or bystanders were around when having business meetings with plaintiff, demanded sexual contact, and threatened plaintiff if she would not give him what he wanted, and forcing himself on plaintiff despite repeated requests to stop,” the suit says.
The dad of five allegedly threatened Canosa on Aug. 29, 2017, “not to speak to anyone about his abuse of plaintiff, which was one of many such occurrences starting in 2010,” the suit says.
Canosa’s allegations echo ones lodged by some 85 other women who’ve brought down Weinstein with their claims that he threatened to destroy their careers in the movie industry if they didn’t give in to his sexual demands.
“The quid pro quo harassment took several forms, including demands for sex or intimate physical contact in exchange for career advancement, or qualifying career opportunities on flirtatious or otherwise attractive dress and behavior,” the suit says.
“Harvey Weinstein created an environment in which there was no choice but to do his bidding or suffer dire consequences both physically and to plaintiff’s career.”
Canosa accuses TWC’s board — including Weinstein’s brother, Bob, who is also named as a defendant along with the individual board members — of covering up the filmmaker’s disturbing behavior.
“Defendants knew or should have known about Harvey Weinstein’s conduct, and did not act to correct or curtail such activity,” the suit says. “Instead, defendants facilitated, hid and supported his unlawful conduct.”
Weinstein reached at least eight cash settlements with some of his accusers over the years, which the TWC board was alerted to in 2015, the New York Times previously reported.
Through a spokeswoman, Weinstein has denied “any allegations of non-consensual sex.”
On Tuesday, Weinstein’s attorney Phyllis Kupferstein said in a statement, “Ali Canosa was a friend who had worked for The Weinstein Company for 10 years, traveled the world for the company and held several influential roles; overseeing many projects throughout the years. From someone who has been thought of a as good friend, involved only in a consensual relationship, these claims are not only mystifying to Mr. Weinstein, but deeply upsetting, and they are not supported by the facts.”