Harvey Weinstein is finally being brought to justice — and for Ambra Gutierrez, it feels surreal.
“In some ways I feel like it’s still too good to be true,” said the 25-year-old model, who is one of more than 80 women who have accused the disgraced movie mogul of rape, sexual harassment or assault. After seeing photos of Weinstein walking into the NYPD’s 1st Precinct on Friday morning, she told The Post: “It’s like waking up from a dream and not knowing if it was true or not.”
Weinstein, 66, turned himself in to face felony charges of rape and criminal sexual misconduct against two women (former aspiring actress Lucia Evans and an unnamed party who is not Gutierrez). He did not enter a plea in Manhattan Criminal Court and was freed on $1 million bail.
For Gutierrez, seeing photos of a handcuffed Weinstein at the same police station where she herself went to report her alleged assault in 2015, brought up strong emotions.
“All the memories are coming back,” she said. “Those three years I lost. It’s a bit of sadness and happiness at the same time. Now people believe me and I feel like those three years were worth it for anything I went through.”
Back then, Gutierrez went to the NYPD after Weinstein allegedly tried to grope her in his Tribeca office.
She worked with detectives in a sting operation where they secretly recorded Weinstein apologizing to her and trying to lure her into his hotel room. But Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. declined to prosecute Weinstein, stating there still wasn’t enough evidence.
Then Weinstein allegedly offered the model a nondisclosure agreement and $1 million in hush money.
In October 2017, Ashley Judd and several other women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in a story in the New York Times, and the New Yorker released the tape from Gutierrez’s confrontation with Weinstein — firing up the #MeToo movement.
After being burned by Vance’s office, Gutierrez is careful not to get her hopes up about the prosecutor’s case against Weinstein.
“I have to digest the news and see how this develops,” said Gutierrez, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen. “I can say that I hope this time [what happened to me] doesn’t happen again.”
But she feels good that having gone public — along with fellow alleged victims including Rose McGowan, Judd and Mira Sorvino — helped bring Weinstein to justice.
“We all did something, and we did not stop until this situation was done in the right way,” Gutierrez said. “I’m thinking about [the] other victims right now, that they finally got justice for what they went through.”