Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyer Responds to Rose McGowan’s Claims

A lawyer for Harvey Weinstein has responded to Rose McGowan‘s accusations against the movie mogul by calling the allegations a “bold lie.”

Ben Bafman, an attorney for Weinstein, told The Blast that Weinstein and his attorneys have “refrained from publicly criticizing any of the women who have made allegations of sexual assault against Mr. Weinstein despite a wealth of evidence that would demonstrate the patent falsity of these claims.

“Watching the ‘performance’ by Rose McGowan as she looks to promote her new book, however, has made it impossible to remain quiet as she tries to smear Mr. Weinstein with a bold lie that is denied not only by Mr. Weinstein himself, but by at least two witnesses.”

McGowan writes in her memoir Brave that she had an appointment with Weinstein on the day of her assault at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997, arriving at the designated hotel to learn her breakfast meeting had been moved to his hotel suite.

Once she got to the suite, she claims that Weinstein tore off her clothing, made her sit on the edge of the Jacuzzi in his suite and proceeded to perform oral sex on the actress while masturbating himself to completion.

Bafman cites correspondence from “two witnesses” to confirm Weinstein’s continuous denial of the allegations, claiming that McGowan’s manager at the time, Jill Messick, wrote an email to him stating that the actress had told her that she had gotten into the Jacuzzi of her own accord, but that it was later something that she regretted.

Bafman also claims that Ben Affleck, who the actress claims she told about the attack, recently sent an email to Weinstein stating that McGowan “never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone. Any accounts to the contrary are false. I have no knowledge about anything Rose did or claimed to have done.”

McGowan eventually reached a $100,000 settlement with the disgraced movie mogul in order for her to remain quiet about the incident, though she was among the first round of women to come forward to accuse the Hollywood heavyweight of sexual assault and she has become a driving force of the #MeToo movement. While promoting her memoir, McGowan has appeared on Good Morning America and The View, where she’s openly discussed her alleged assault.