THE former model who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her as a teenager recounted the emotional toll of having to reveal the details from her addiction treatment journals to the courtroom.
Kaja Sokola endured five demanding days on the witness stand, providing testimony against the man she claimed sexually assaulted her twice, starting when she was a 16-year-old model with aspirations of becoming a film producer.
Sokola, now 39, shared her experience with The U.S. Sun during a visit to our Midtown Manhattan office, just a week after a jury found Weinstein not guilty of committing a criminal sex act against her.
The former runway model from Poland described in vivid detail the overwhelming feeling of having to face her alleged abuser in the courtroom.
“That’s something that if you have not lived through that, it’s impossible to be prepared,” Sokola told The U.S. Sun.
“Although I saw the courtroom before the trial just to have a feeling how it looks like. But then stepping in when it was full of people and the defense attorneys was very stressful.
“I know [Weinstein] is a monster. He’s just an evil, evil person.”
Sokola admitted she was blindsided when Weinstein‘s attorney, Michael Cibella, confronted her with details from one of her personal journals during cross-examination.
“Please don’t read that. This is my personal things,” Sokola said on the witness stand.
The defense claimed that it was Sokola’s sister – who testified in the trial – that gave them the journals, per the New York Post.
The former model-turned-psychotherapist told The U.S. Sun she felt “extremely violated” in that moment.
“This was one moment, where I started shaking. I didn’t want the journal to come out because it’s an AA journal,” she said.
Sokola described the journals as addiction workbooks, where she documented people who had sexually assaulted her – but did not mention Weinstein.
However, Sokola said the journal her sister, Ewa, provided to the defense was only one of many AA workbooks.
ULTIMATE BETRAYAL
Sokola told The U.S. Sun she wrote about her traumatic experience with Weinstein in her other journals she no longer has access to.
“If my sister had access to that, she had to have access to probably 10 or 20 of diaries in which I wrote about Harvey,” she said.
“But she chose just this one. This one specific thing did not show what I was going through at the time when this happened. I mean, I was 19. So, it was very calculated what happened.
“I’ve been processing it, and I still am, honestly. Knowing about my sister, I’ve had quite a few nights when I was waking up with nightmares.
I know [Weinstein] is a monster. He’s just an evil, evil person.
Kaja Sokola.
“[But] I think that this was the most difficult thing because what she did was not only hurtful to me, but to the work of a lot of people in the district attorney’s office.”
Sokola recalled moments when the ailing Miramax founder, 72, who was rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair throughout the trial, would nod off during her testimony.
“Seeing him there and kind of dozing off with certain moments and his mouth open like he didn’t know what’s going on, it didn’t make me feel like we’re winning,” she admitted.
“For me, this trial was also about sending a message, a louder message that things like this won’t go away, won’t get away.”
The 12-person jury convicted the former movie mogul of sexual assault concerning film producer Miriam “Mimi” Haley.
However, Judge Curtis Farber, who oversaw the high-profile retrial, declared a mistrial on the rape charge Weinstein was facing in connection with the alleged 2013 sexual assault of actress Jessica Mann.
Moments after the split verdict was read, Weinstein’s publicist declared victory after he was acquitted of crimes concerning Sokola and a mistrial was declared on the rape crime.
“Today, we consider this a victory for us because he beat the toughest charge, which was Kaja Sokola, which is the new charge, which meant the clock would’ve had to start ticking again,” Juda Engelmayer told reporters outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan on June 11.
“The other two he’s already served time for them, so whatever time he might get on this, he’s already served five-and-a-half, six years.”
Sokola condemned the celebratory approach by Weinstein and his team, saying there’s no victory.
“His defense team should not celebrate victory because there’s no victory for them,” Sokola said.
“But really the most important thing is that he’s in jail, and he will stay in jail.
“I know Jessica [Mann], and Jessica’s a lovely woman. I have not met Mimi yet, but I hope I will, but I think it really was a team effort.”
