Mimi Haley denies flirting with Harvey Weinstein in NY rape trial redux

MANHATTAN (CN) — Miriam “Mimi” Haley on Tuesday bucked claims by defense attorneys that she was “flirty” with Harvey Weinstein throughout their working relationship in 2006, when Haley claims that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her.

Haley, a former TV production assistant, took the stand Tuesday morning in the second week of testimony at Weinstein’s rape retrial in New York City. She is the first of three accusers slated to testify against the disgraced Hollywood executive.

Weinstein’s defense team claimed last week that Haley and the other accusers were “flirtatious” with him and “fooled around with him consensually.” But Haley repeatedly denied that assertion on Tuesday under questioning from Manhattan prosecutor Nicole Blumberg.

“Were you interested in [Harvey Weinstein] in any way romantically?” Blumberg asked in reference to a 2006 meeting between Haley and Weinstein at a hotel bar.

“No, I was looking for work,” Haley said.

“Were you flirty or suggest anything sexual?” Blumberg asked.

“Absolutely not,” Haley replied.

It’s now the second time Haley has testified in a Manhattan criminal courtroom that Weinstein coerced her into an unwanted sexual relationship. Haley was a star witness for prosecutors in the 2020 case against Weinstein, in which he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted for committing a criminal sex act and third-degree rape.

But last year, New York’s highest court ruled that the case should be retried after the trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony from three women whose accusations against Weinstein were not part of the state’s case-in-chief.

That ruling paved the way for Weinstein’s 2025 retrial, in which Haley is retelling her story.

Weinstein is accused of committing a criminal sexual act by forcibly performing oral sex on Haley in 2006, after he helped land her a role of production assistant on “Project Runway.” He’s also charged with third-degree rape of actress Jessica Mann in 2013 — a charge that was present in the first trial as well.

Prosecutors added a new charge in the retrial: a criminal sexual act count against model and actress Kaja Sokola. Weinstein is accused of forcibly performing oral sex on her too.

Haley was initially skeptical to testify at Weinstein’s retrial, according to reports. Her testimony thus far largely echoed what she told the court at the first trial five years ago.

She told the court Tuesday about first meeting Weinstein at a London movie premiere in 2004, then running into him again two years later at the Cannes Film Festival, where she asked him if there were any opportunities at his production company in New York.

Haley said Weinstein invited her up to his hotel room to discuss her career.

“I was excited to get the opportunity to meet with him,” she said. “He was a very powerful producer.”

But when she got there, Haley said Weinstein was less interested in talking about movies and more interested in complimenting her legs. At one point, she said he asked her for a massage, which she denied. Weistein then asked her if he could give her a massage instead, Haley testified.

“I felt humiliated,” she said. “It was just like a sinking feeling, realizing that he wasn’t taking me seriously at all.”

Still, the pair stayed in touch, and Weinstein eventually landed Haley a production assistant gig on the hit TV show “Project Runway.” Haley said she was paid $125 a day in cash — she didn’t have a work visa at the time to legally be an employee in the United States.

Haley hasn’t yet testified about the night she says Weinstein forced himself on her. Before court was adjourned for the day, she was telling the jurors about how she “offended” Weinstein by declining his persistent efforts to fly to Paris with him. She testified that Weinstein “barged” into her apartment to beg her to accompany him.

Prosecutors say Weinstein “yanked” a tampon out of Haley, who was on her period at the time, and gave her oral sex at his apartment in 2006 while she begged him to stop.

Despite Weinstein’s conviction being overturned last year, he remains jailed on a 16-year sentence imposed in Los Angeles County Superior Court for raping an Italian model. Ahead of his retrial, Weinstein was granted a transfer from Rikers Island to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to accommodate his numerous health issues.

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