Two more women have come forward to claim that they were sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein.
Actress Marisa Coughlan, 42, and former television presenter Katya Mtsitouridze both told The Hollywood Reporter that Weinstein showed an interest in them and then started trying to woo them with gifts and special perks.
In Coughlan’s case those perks would be roles in his hit Miramax films and for Mtsitouridze it was promises of jewels and private jets.
The two woman also found themselves caught alone in a hotel room with Weinstein.
Coughlan made an easy exit after her uncomfortable meeting while Mtsitouridze was saved by a waiter, who entered moments after Weinstein, 65, allegedly lifted his shirt to show her the Russian beauty, 45, his stomach wound.
‘He wanted to barter sex for movie roles,’ said Coughlan.
‘In other cases, he was forcing himself on them. It’s so shocking that he got away with it for as long as he did.’
Speaking out: Marisa Coughlan has come forward to claim that she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein in 1999 after filming ‘Teaching Mrs. Tingle’ for Miramax (Coughlan above in 1999)
End game: Katya Mtsitouridze (above in 2017) claims that Weinstein trapped her in his hotel room back in 2004 at the Venice Film Festival after first ring to woo her in 2003
Coughlan was a rising star after mainstream projects such as Miramax’s ‘Teaching Mrs. Tingle.’
That same year show booked Wasteland,’ which despite being cancelled after just 13 episodes was so heavily promoted as the hot new show if the 1999 season that the cast became household names.
Coughlan had met Weinstein once at a premiere and then ran into him again soon after while out to eat with her girlfriends, stopping by his table to say hello as he dined with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
When he picked up the bill for her and her friends, Coughlan penned a handwritten note, which got her a call from Weinstein.
He said she was a ‘classy lady’ and a meeting was set up for the two at the Peninsula.
Harvey ‘had this gigantic penthouse. It was enormous,’ she said of his hotel accommodations.
‘There were a few assistants there when I arrived but they literally left the suite like the place was on fire. I didn’t process why until later.’
Weinstein talk about a role she would be great for and his love for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Last Tycoon.’
The mogul’s fawning over that novel was a topic of conversation while he was with a number of other alleged victims they have claimed over the past two weeks.
But first, Harvey had a pitch.
‘He told me that he has a lot of “special friends” and they give each other massages,’ said Coughlan.
Disgrace: Weinstein (above at the 1999 Oscars) worked tirelessly to get the women alone they claim
‘It was a full-court press. He wanted me to be one of his “special friends” and go into the bedroom.’
Coughlan was 25 at the time, while Weinstein was exactly twice her age at 50.
‘I told him that I had a serious boyfriend and reminded him that he was married and that we should keep this professional. I was so blindsided. Not one ounce of me anticipated it. It was the weirdest meeting I’ve ever had in my life.’
It got weirder when that script came for her and he called about the two going ice skating in New York City, then suggested other ‘romantic outings’ said Coughlan.
She agreed to another meeting during that call, which she asked be at industry spot Dominick’s in Hollywood.
‘I sat down and explained that I wanted to be really clear,’ said Coughlan.
‘I told him again that I have a serious boyfriend and I was never going to do anything physical or romantic.’
That did not get the response she had hoped for however from Weinstein.
‘It was super uncomfortable, remember, because I was employed by his studio at the time,’ said Coughlan.
‘He seemed so flabbergasted that I wasn’t going to go there. I was shocked that he was so shocked.’
Then he asked Coughlan to drive him back to the Peninsula, and tried to coax her into the hotel, but she stood her ground.
That amazing part soon went to another actress.
‘What happened to me, even though it was uncomfortable, was much more of a transactional situation,’ said Coughlan.
She added: ‘I never realized the scope of it. I felt like an island and naively didn’t know how pervasive it was,’
Coughlan also applauded the women who have been speaking out especially her contemporary Rose McGowan.
Odd pair: Quentin Tarantino attended the 2004 festival with his ‘girlfriend’ Georgina Chapman (above) according to photo agencies
Last call: Weinstein was still married to first wife Eve Chilton (above in 2004) when both of these alleged incidents occurred
Mtsitouridze met Weinstein three years later in 2003, when she was working as a television reporter.
She now heads the Russian film organization Roskino.
‘I first met Mr. Weinstein in the Regent hotel at the Berlin film festival , where I was doing a television interview with George Clooney for Channel One,’ said Mtsitouridze.
‘Harvey was co-producer of Clooney’s directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. After the interview, he came up to me saying that he liked my questions and would love to have lunch in his room — that he loved Russian culture, especially Chekhov, and that his grandparents were originally from Russia — and that we could have an interesting conversation.’
She then said: ‘I was surprised and told him, rather ironically, that, of course, it would be an honor, but I was afraid my boyfriend would not be happy about our cultural tete-a-tete, but if he wished to invite him, there would be no problem.’
‘He said, ‘Don’t you understand me?’ and wrote his mobile number down, adding he was waiting for my call at any time.’
Weinstein would make a point asking ‘When will you call me?’ or ‘Let me fly you to New York’ claimed Mtsitouridze.
They ran into one another again a little over a year later at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, with the two attending the premiere of ‘Finding Neverland.’
‘He invited me to meet him in his room after the party, saying he had a great idea for working with contemporary Russian writers, reminding me that he was a publisher as well as a filmmaker,’ said Mtsitouridze.
She met him halfway this time and agreed to meet him at the cafe inside Excelsior, the five-star hotel of choice at the festival.
‘The assistant said that he would be joining us, so I went up,’ said Mtsitouridze.
She had no sooner entered the room and noticed a ‘table set for two’ and champagne then the assistant was gone.
The shock of that moment was nothing however compared to what happened next in the room.
‘I was frozen into immobility like a statue, because a well-known producer with whom I’ve come to discuss modern Russian writers, was in a bathrobe,’ said Mtsitouridze.
Bad years: It was in 2004 that Weinstein relationship with Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael D. Eisner began to deteriorate to its lowest point (pair above at Allen & Co in 2004)
Weinstein chose that moment to say: ‘I waited for the masseuse, but she’s late. We can have fun without her. Let’s relax.’
That was followed by the mogul lifting his shirt to show the mark left from a recent surgery.
‘I was disgusted,’ she said of Weinstein’s stomach wound.
She had already began to plot how a way out when things turned a bit more dire claims , as she heard Weinstein declare: ‘You will love it. I’m a guru in this matter. You never met a man like me.’
At that moment though the waiter returned to finish the set-up and out the door she ran, bumping into her friends at a nearby press junket.
She climed she was ill after they saw the look of despair and anxiety on her face.
A decade later she was introduced to Weinstein at Canns by a mutual acquantice who had no knowledge of their history.
‘I did not know how to behave. I was so frustrated,’ said
‘But Harvey, acting as if nothing had happened, kissed my hand and said quietly so that only I could hear: “Don’t even think about saying anything. Forget all about it. Be a smart girl.”‘
It was revealed on Thursday that the LAPD was investigating an allegation of rape against Weinstein.
Weinstein is also being investigated in the state of New York, where two criminal probes have been launched following allegations of sexual assault that date back over 10 years.
A law enforcement source told DailyMail.com that one of these complaints was filed by Lucia Evans, who told The New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 at his office. The identity of the other individual is not known at this time.
There is no statute of limitations on rape, criminal sexual act or aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree in the state of New York.
The state legislature signed a bill eliminating a statute of limitations for first-degree sexual offenses back in 2006, having previously had a five-year statute for all rape and sexual assault cases.
Weinstein’s legal problems are not just stateside either, with Scotland Yard currently investigating five allegations of sexual assault which have been made by three women across the Atlantic.
The earliest of these alleged assaults dates back to the eighties.
‘Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein,’ said his spokesperson Sallie Hofmeister in a statement.
‘Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.’
She went on to state: ‘Mr. Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.
‘Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.’
There is still no confirmation that Weinstein has entered rehab or sought counseling.