Model Testifies Harvey Weinstein Raped Her at His SoHo Apartment, Masturbated in Front of Her at Cipriani
Model Tarale Wulff testified on Wednesday that in 2005, Harvey Weinstein masturbated in front of her at the Cipriani restaurant in SoHo and, later, raped her at his apartment.
At the time, Wulff was working as a cocktail waitress for the upstairs lounge portion of Cipriani. There, she met Weinstein and told the then-mogul she was an actress. During their interaction, Wulff said Weinstein expressed an interest in helping her career and, later, approached her again in the lounge.
Wulff, believing that Weinstein wanted to speak with her in the hallway outside the lounge about acting-related matters, said Weinstein grabbed her arm and began leading her upstairs through Cipriani and onto a dark, unused terrace. There, she said he turned her around to face him and stood between her and the exit.
Wulff said she told Weinstein she needed to return back to work but that he asked her to wait and give him a second.
“I noticed that his shirt started moving, and I realized he was masturbating under his shirt,” Wulff said. “I just froze for a second, and then I just threw the towel and ran past him.”
The model said she didn’t see Weinstein’s hand, but that she saw the motion of his hand underneath his untucked white shirt moving up and down.
Later, Wulff said she was contacted by a Weinstein associate and invited to read for a part at the Weinstein Company office. After she arrived and waited in a room with a script, she was told that there was a car waiting outside for her because Weinstein wanted to meet her. She didn’t know at the time where she was being dropped off, but the driver took her to Weinstein’s SoHo apartment.
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When she arrived inside Weinstein’s loft, she said the then-mogul seemed busy getting ready for something and was calling to her from a room. She eventually went to that room to have a nondescript conversation with him; but moments later, Wulff said Weinstein took her by the arms, turned her around, and leaned her onto the bed with his weight. Though she told him, “I can’t.” Wulff testified that Weinstein told her not to “worry” and proceeded to assault her.
“He put himself inside me and he raped me,” Wulff said. “I just went blank and looked off.”
In the moment, Wulff said she “froze” and thought it’d be easier if she just tried to “get past it.” And after the incident, Wulff said she was taken back to the Weinstein Company office and was told to come back when she was ready to read for the role. She ultimately never did the audition, nor did she get the part.
Wulff appeared on the stand as one of the prosecution’s “prior bad acts” witnesses. Although Weinstein is not being charged based on Wulff’s account, her testimony is supposed to help demonstrate to the jury a pattern of behavior.
Wulff, who goes professionally by Taralê, is a New York-based model. She has also appeared in a few shorts, including “Man in Progress” and “To Shop.”
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts, including for predatory sexual assault and first- and third-degree rape.
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