A former model who claimed earlier this week that a naked Harvey Weinstein tried to sexually assault her inside a hotel room at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival is sharing new details about the incident with DailyMailTV.
Zoe Brock was just 23 when she met Weinstein in the South of France, and thought the two were having a great night together as they spent time with mutual friends.
That all changed though when she found herself alone in Weinstein’s room at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc later that evening, claiming that he stripped naked and ran after her demanding that she give him a massage.
She was able to talk her way out of the situation, but says she is still in shock about that night 20 years ago, not only because of Weinstein’s behavior but also his employees.
Brock revealed that his assistant at the time and Miramax executive Fabrizio Lombardo helped to enact the plan that got her alone with Weinstein, with their operation running like a weel-oiled machine.
That is the same man who was to be the focus of a 2004 New York Times piece about Weinstein, but ended up out of the paper when Matt Damon and Russell Crowed vouched for him to the reporter.
New claims: Zoe Brock (above) was just 23 in 1997 when she claims that Harvey Weinstein tried to force her into giving him a naked massage at his hotel
‘At the time when I first met him I thought he was lovely,’ said Brock of Weinstein.
‘We had great conversation. We sat next to each other at a dinner, we had an intellectual conversation, it was stimulating, we laughed, we had a friend in common. I had a great time with his friends and my friends for a few hours.’
The, when it was time to go, things took a turn.
‘Over the course of the evening there were probably 10, 12 15 of us, I honestly don’t remember, and we were all at a large party in Cannes at the film festival and as it was drawing to close at midnight we all wanted to leave,’ explained Brock.
‘Harvey and his assistant all herded our group into one of his two town cars and there wasn’t room for me, so I was told they would give me a ride and we would all meet at the same place and I just happily jumped in the car with them.’
She then added: ‘But that town car did not go to the same place. so we drove out of town about 30 minutes to the Hotel du Cap.’
It was not long until Brock realized something was not right.
‘My alarm bells started to ring when we were in his hotel and his friends started leaving,’ said Brock.
‘It became clear to me that my friends were not coming after his assistant went downstairs to “check” and see if my friends were having a problem getting in, and he just left me alone and Harvey immediately took his clothes off.’
Then, like many other women have revealed, she was asked to massage Weinstein said Brock.
‘He asked me to give him a massage, and I did not want to give him a massage,’ she explained.
‘His rebuttal was could he give me one. And at that time I was 23, I was in a remote hotel with no cell phone, without even enough money to get a taxi if I’d even been able to get out of that room and it crossed my mind that allowing him to touch me even just a little bit might be a way to placate him and sort of give him an inch and not a mile.’
She continued: ‘So I let him touch my shoulders and my back, but within a couple of seconds I was just not OK with that, and I bolted into the bathroom and he chased me.’
Cannes Cannes: This all happened at the Cannes Film festival in 1997 (Weinstein above behind John Travolta with Robin Wright on right)
Familiar site: The hotel (above) where the alleged incident occurred is also the same one where Asia Argento claims she was raped that year, and were Judith Godreche claims she had her sweater ripped off when she was given a massage by Weinstein a year prior
Brock said that she was angry at that point, and saw no way of escape from inside the bathroom.
‘I felt really betrayed, I was really pissed off,’ said said.
‘I got into the bathroom and he was banging on the door and begging me to come out. He was not enraged, just pleading, “Please come out, please come out.”
‘I said put your clothes on you naughty boy. Scolding him worked, and he was contrite and he promised to back away and be good and put some clothes on.’
She was scared to come out, but when she did Weinstein said to her: ‘You don’t like me because I’m fat.’
Soon after, he and his assistant drove her to the honeymoon suite at the Majestic Hotel in Cannes, and along the way Weinstein promised Brock her could make me her a star.
Things got difficult however when her agent set up a meeting with Weinstein despite knowing what transpired, and the next day she found him sitting directly behind her at a film screening on the Croisette.
Lombardo meanwhile apologized to her after the night.
‘He approached me with his girlfriend and he was extremely apologetic, he said he had no idea that things like that could happen,’ said Brock.
She later added: ‘I don’t know how many people have been involved in this and for how long, but its bigger than I could have believed.’
Brock closed out the interview with a few tears meanwhile, after learning live on-air that Paltrow had come forward with her harassment claims.
‘When I was in Cannes the same night that all of this happened I heard about Gwyneth,’ said Brock, who added that her speaking out will help others do the same.
The hotel where the alleged incident occurred is also the same one where Asia Argento claims she was raped that year, and were Judith Godreche claims she had her sweater ripped off when she was given a massage by Weinstein a year prior.