Vin Diesel Accused of Sexual Assault by Former Assistant

Vin Diesel is being accused of sexual assault by his former assistant. According to Vanity Fair, the assistant, Asta Jonasson, claims that the 56-year-old actor sexually battered her while she was working for him in the fall of 2010 during the filming of Fast Five. Jonasson filed the lawsuit against Diesel in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The lawsuit states that Jonasson was hired by Diesel's company, One Race, to work for him on location in Atlanta. At the time, Jonasson was a Los Angeles film school program graduate, and her responsibilities as an assistant included organizing parties, accompanying Diesel to parties and ensuring she was near him in case photographs were taken of him with women he attended events without his longtime girlfriend. The lawsuit says that Jonasson was asked to wait in Diesen's suite at the St. Regis hotel one night in September 2010. Diesel was entertaining hostesses he brought back from a club, and once the other women were gone, the lawsuit claims that Diesel "grabbed Ms. Jonasson's wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed." Jonasson asked him to stop, escaped his grasp, and waited by the front door of the suite for him to leave.

Diesel allegedly approached Jonasson and began to grope her breasts and kiss her chest, despite Jonasson asking him to stop. The lawsuit says Jonasson was "afraid to more forcibly refuse her supervisor, knowing that getting him out of that room was both crucial to her personal safety and job security." It then said that Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Jonasson's dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Jonasson's upper legs, including her inner thighs. Jonasson then screamed and ran down the hallway after Diesel allegedly pulled down her underwear. She made her way to the bathroom where Diesel pinned her to the wall and placed her hand on his penis. 

Hours after the incident, Samantha Vincent, Diesel's sister and the president of One Race, fired Jonasson. "It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful—Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults," the lawsuit said. Jonasson signed a nondisclosure agreement when the took the job at One Race. She filed the claims due to the Speak Out Act, which prevents the enforcement of NDAs in instances of sexual assault and harassment. Jonasson continued to work as an assistant and production coordinator among other roles in the entertainment industry. Multiple outlets have reached out to Diesel reps, but they have yet to comment.

Diesel has been active in Hollywood since 1990 and has starred in movies such as Saving Private Ryan, The XXX franchise and The Chronicles of Riddick franchise along with the Fast & Furious films. He also voiced Groot in The Guardians of the Galaxy movies and two Avengers films. 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org