Former actress Heather Kerr has joined the list of ladies accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse, alleging he forced her to touch his genitals.
Kerr, who once appeared on U.S. sitcom The Facts Of Life, came forward with her accusations during a press conference in Los Angeles on Friday (20Oct17).
She claimed the disgraced producer forced her to touch his genitals during a meeting in Hollywood in 1989, when she was in her 20s.
"He had this sleazy smile on his face," she recalled. "Because he was sitting so close on this couch I started to get a sick feeling in my stomach. The next thing I knew he unzipped his pants and pulled out his penis.
"My heart started pounding. My mind started racing. How do I deal with this? How do I get out of this? Am I going to get out of this? How is this happening?
"He then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him and forced my hand onto his penis and held it there. I was frozen with fear, trying to remain calm, trying not to freak out because, after all, there was nobody else in the office."
According to Kerr, Weinstein told her "this was how things worked in Hollywood", explaining he would take her to parties and "show me who I needed to sleep with", after first finding out "how good I was".
She said she quit acting shortly after her encounter with the producer, who is now reportedly seeking sex addiction treatment as more and more women come forward with sordid tales of their experiences with him.
"I felt so powerless, because he is, after all very powerful and very well known… and very successful," Kerr added. "I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I was nobody. Why would they believe me?"
The former actress is being represented by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who has also been retained by Louisette Geiss, who recently accused Weinstein of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The actress and screenwriter fought back tears during a press conference in Allred's office on 10 October (17), as she recalled a meeting with the movie mogul at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where he greeted her wearing a bathrobe and told her he could "greenlight" her script if she agreed to watch him masturbate.
Also on Friday, Blade Runner star Sean Young added her own story to the throng of reports of inappropriate behaviour by Weinstein during an interview with the Dudley And Bob With Matt Show podcast.
"I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said, recalling a meeting in the early 1990s. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really don't think you should be pulling that thing out, it's not very pretty'."
Sean vowed never to work with the producer again after the encounter.
Weinstein, who has "unequivocally denied" allegations of non-consensual sex, is currently under investigation by police in the U.K. and Los Angeles.
