One Of Weinstein’s Former Assistants Has Broken Her NDA To Speak Out

One of Harvey Weinstein‘s former assistants has broken her non-disclosure agreement to speak out about both his behaviour and his heavy reliance on lawyers to keep it secret.

Zelda Perkins, who worked for Weinstein during his time at Miramax Films, spoke to the Financial Times shortly after former staffers at The Weinstein Co. released a statement asking to be released from their NDAs.

“I want to publicly break my non-disclosure agreement,” she said. “Unless somebody does this there won’t be a debate about how egregious these agreements are and the amount of duress that victims are put under. My entire world fell in because I thought the law was there to protect those who abided by it. I discovered that it had nothing to do with right and wrong and everything to do with money and power.”

Perkins, who left her job with Weinstein almost two decades ago, says that he exposed himself to her, asked her for massages, and asked her to watch him bathe.

“This was behaviour on every occasion I was alone with him. I often had to wake up him up in the hotel in the mornings and he would try to pull me into bed.”

The catalyst for her came when a colleague confided in her that she was assaulted by Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 1998.

“She was white as a sheet and shaking and in a very bad emotional state,” said Perkins. “She told me something terrible had happened. She was in shock and crying and finding it very hard to talk. I was furious, deeply upset and very shocked. I said: ‘We need to go to the police’ but she was too distressed. Neither of us knew what to do in a foreign environment.”

The two sought legal action, and in 1998 agreed upon a sum of £250,00 that was to be split between them. As part of the agreement, both had to sign NDAs (a full copy of which they were not allowed to keep), and Perkins has not spoken about the harassment and assault until this interview.

She had initially wanted to expose him, but was warned the consequences would be severe and she would likely not be successful.

“I was warned that [Weinstein] and his lawyers would try to destroy my credibility if I went to court,” she said. “They told me he would try to destroy me and my family.”

Like every other allegation made against him, Weinstein denies the FT’s report. The full interview (behind a paywall) is available here.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or assault, you can call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 for access to 24/7 support.

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