Lauren Sivan, a TV journalist, is the latest woman to come forward with allegations about Hollywood super producer Harvey Weinstein.
Sivan told Huffington Post journalist Yashar Ali that Weinstein trapped her in a restaurant hallway and forced her to watch him masturbate until he ejaculated into a pot plant.
The HuffPo article alleges that the incident occurred ten years ago, when Sivan was a news anchor on a New York local cable channel.
According to Sivan, Weinstein took her to a Cuban-themed club called Socialista. Weistein reportedly insisted that Sivan join him on a tour of Cafe Socialista, the club’s restaurant. He took her to the restaurant’s kitchen, sent the two staff members working there away, and then attempted to kiss her.
Yeah. This happened👇🏽luckily I didn’t need a job or favor from him + didn’t have to be polite. Others did. Keep that in mind. https://t.co/mXs2RIU5kU
— Lauren Sivan (@LaurenSivan) October 7, 2017
When she rebuffed him, Weinstein reportedly said “Well, can you just stand there and shut up.” He had trapped Sivan in a hallway between the kitchen and the bathrooms, and he then proceeded to masturbate in front of her while she stood frozen and shocked. She says he quickly finished in a pot plant in the hallway.
A friend of Sivan’s who was interviewed for the article and who was there at Socialista on the night told HuffPo that she’d said to Sivan that if she didn’t come back from her trip with Weinstein in 10 minutes, she’d come looking for her.
Read full piece from @yashar
“she was trapped by Weinstein’s body and was intimidated.”https://t.co/44ridKNvjx— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) October 7, 2017
She did, and met Sivan and Weinstein as they were leaving the kitchen. Although she and Sivan left immediately afterwards and Sivan told her what had happened as soon as they were outside, Sivan says that she has remained quiet about the incident for the last ten years for fear of repercussions.
The allegations come in the wake of an explosive New York Times report on what they say is Weinstein’s storied career of sexual abuse and assault of women close to him. Read the full (and disturbing) Huffington Post article right here.
