Harvey Weinstein has been hit with his second sex trafficking lawsuit — this time, by German actress Emma Loman, who said Weinstein effectively transported her across state lines to rape her.Loman’s complaint, filed on Monday in Los Angeles, alleges that Weinstein invited Loman to France’s Cannes film festival in 2006 and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He allegedly had his assistant call her up to 30 times a day, until Loman gave in and agreed to go.At the festival, Weinstein followed what’s now known as his modus operandi, according to the lawsuit. He allegedly invited Loman to his hotel suite and assured her that they’d discuss scripts and the possibility that Loman would star in an upcoming film Weinstein was producing.Instead, he tried to convince her to take off her clothes and give Loman a massage, according to the lawsuit. When she refused to do so, he allegedly changed into a bathrobe and raped her.Weinstein later convinced Loman to once again meet him in his hotel room and allegedly promised that they would not be left alone. He kept that pledge, Loman said, since she entered to find another woman in Weinstein’s hotel room.Weinstein then tried to convince Loman to join a threesome with the other woman, according to the lawsuit, but Loman refused. “Weinstein physically cornered Loman in his suite that he had lured her into, and informed her that — even if she could somehow overpower the much larger Weinstein — the security guards that Weinstein employed would not allow Loman to leave the floor until she promised to keep silent regarding Weinstein’s assault and rape,” the lawsuit alleges.Loman’s argument — that she’s a victim of sex trafficking — is unusual. But it’s not unprecedented: Last week, a federal judge decided to let British actress Kadian Noble also pursue a sex trafficking lawsuit against Weinstein. Like Loman, Noble said that Weinstein sexually assaulted her at a Cannes hotel.Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including harassment. But Weinstein has repeatedly denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. Weinstein’s civil attorney, Phyllis Kupferstein, similarly denied the accusations in Loman’s lawsuit.“This lawsuit is an attempt to continue the legal barrage and public attention on Mr. Weinstein,” Kupferstein told Variety. “The allegations are untrue and the claims are barred by the statute of limitations. We intend to immediately move to dismiss the complaint.”Weinstein has been charged with six crimes in New York, including for rape and sexual assault. He’s pleaded not guilty.Cover image: Harvey Weinstein attends his arraignment in court in New York on July 9, 2018. (Jefferson Siegel/The Daily News via AP, Pool, File)
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