Netflix’s Marco Polo producer Alexandra Canosa filed a lawsuit in December against Harvey Weinstein, his company, and his brother Bob. On Monday, court documents revealed the details of her allegations. According to Billboard, her attorney claims that Weinstein sexually assaulted Canosa for years and forced her into silence by threatening her career.
The sexual abuse began in 2010 at the Tribeca Grand Hotel and continued until September 2017. Over the course of seven years, Weinstein assaulted her in New York, Los Angeles, Malaysia, and Budapest. The abuse stopped just weeks before the first New York Times story revealed Weinstein’s long history of abuse and harassment of women in the entertainment industry.
In a statement, Weinstein’s attorney Phyllis Kupferstein said Canosa was simply a “friend” of Weinstein who “traveled the world for the company and held several influential roles; overseeing many projects throughout the years.” Kupferstein added, “From someone who has been thought of as a good friend, these claims are not only mystifying to Mr. Weinstein, but deeply upsetting, and they are not supported by the facts.”
However, Canosa’s accusations paint a different picture. She claims the producer threatened her into silence, saying she would lose her job if she refused his sexual advances. “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,” her complaint reads.
Canosa joins more than 70 women to come forward with sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein. He’s currently the defendant in a handful of lawsuits and is under four active criminal investigations in New York, Los Angeles, and London.
