Paz de la Huerta awoke Friday morning in France to a text message from a friend, alerting her that Harvey Weinstein was about to be arrested in New York and charged with rape. Instead of a moment of closure, it felt like the reopening of a wound. Last fall, de la Huerta told police that Weinstein raped her twice in 2010 in New York—but the charges filed Friday stem from incidents involving two other women, in 2013 and 2004.
“I just felt extremely emotional today,” de la Huerta said, speaking by phone six hours after Weinstein was led in handcuffs past photographers in New York. “I couldnt stop crying. I dont know why. It should be a day of celebration, but I feel melancholic about it all.”
At the time of de la Huertas first alleged rape by Weinstein, the actress was experiencing a professional high point, starring in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and coming off a well-reviewed performance in Gaspar Noés Enter the Void. Weinstein was at the peak of his power in Hollywood, about to see his films The Kings Speech and The Artist win consecutive best-picture Oscars. When Weinstein and de la Huerta ran into each other at a Manhattan hotel bar one night in November of 2010, and Weinstein offered the actress a ride home to their shared neighborhood of Tribeca, “things got very uncomfortable very fast,” de la Huerta told me in a separate interview last fall. After her experiences with Weinstein, de la Huerta said she became depressed and drank excessively; after a second season, HBO did not renew her Boardwalk Empire contract.
Weinstein has repeatedly denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, in de la Huertas case and in the cases of the two women in the charges New York prosecutors filed on Friday. “I anticipate that the women who have made these allegations, when subjected to cross-examination—in the event we get that far—will not be believed by 12 people,” Weinsteins attorney, Ben Brafman, told reporters. “Assuming we get 12 fair people who are not consumed by the movement that seems to have overtaken this case.”
Since being interviewed by police in New York last fall, de la Huerta has been living in France, painting and trying to raise money to finish a long-gestating film project—a retelling of Hans Christian Andersens “The Red Shoes,” inspired in part by her experiences with Weinstein.
De la Huerta said prosecutors did not include her case in Fridays charges because she has not yet been able to provide enough corroborating evidence. “Its very hard to prove a rape case,” de la Huerta said. “Anything that will put him in jail will make me happy, but its important to me that my voice is heard. Im happy were closer to justice. But I feel my case is being overlooked and not taken as seriously, and that upsets me.”
De la Huerta said she will return to New York this summer to be interviewed by prosecutors. “Its complicated,” de la Huerta said. “Part of me is very happy, and part of me is sad. It brings up a lot of painful memories, and it also gives me hope that justice does exist.”
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Rebecca KeeganRebecca Keegan is a Hollywood Correspondent for Vanity Fair.
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