Harvey Weinstein’s Former Assistant Breaks NDA, Speaks About Attempted Rape

Harvey Weinstein's former assistant Rowena Chiu recently broke the nondisclosure agreement she signed and spoke about the Miramax founder and the attempted rape incident between them.

Chiu has kept her silence about Weinstein’s attempt to rape her for over two decades. But she broke her silence on the issue on “Today” in September 2019.

However, Weinstein continued to deny her claims, so Chiu made another interview, this time with Variety, to make her points clear. She said that Weinstein made her and Zelda Perkins sign a nondisclosure agreement that prohibited them from speaking about the incident.

“I’m breaking my NDA right now,” Chiu told the publication.

“He could sue me for every single interview I’ve ever done for breaking my NDA, but in practice, he’s probably not going to. He’s got bigger problems.”

Chiu claimed that Weinstein attempted to rape her during a business trip in 1998. At the time, she had only met Weinstein two times as his new assistant.

She recalled a late-night meeting to discuss film productions and scripts with Weinstein. He allegedly asked for a massage, but she declined. However, the producer pushed her up against the bed and removed her tights.

Chiu was able to escape the room but was traumatized with the incident. She confided to her colleague, Perkins, about it. The latter was shocked and convinced her to bring the issue to Miramax. They did and they also hired a lawyer, but Weinstein’s team pressured them to sign the NDA that ordered them to never speak about the issue ever again.

Chiu and Perkins were very afraid after signing the NDA, so they stopped talking to each other. Chiu pointed out that the NDA was not just about Weinstein. It also exemplified the abuse of power and the lengths larger corporations would go to to protect high-ranking individuals.

Chiu said she wants NDAs to be eliminated because some are using it for their personal gains.

“NDAs should be banned as a tool to cover up sexual harassment, unequivocally,” she said.

“If you rape someone, that’s a reportable crime. To say, ‘I’m going to have you sign a legal document, so that you can’t go to the police or lawyers to discuss what happened to you,’ that’s just plain wrong.”

Meanwhile, in March, Weinstein tested positive for coronavirus. After two weeks, his spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said that he’s already symptom-free and had no health issues anymore.