In the latest chapter of Harvey Weinstein’s legal saga, two sisters took the stand at his recent criminal trial. Kaja Sokola accused the former Hollywood producer of sexual assault, while her sister Ewa Sokola was brought in to support her accusations. However, her testimony unexpectedly aided the defense.
Ewa Sokola has now filed a defamation lawsuit against Kaja, contending that her sibling’s public statements have tarnished her reputation. The lawsuit, submitted Tuesday in a Manhattan federal court, claims that these remarks have harmed Ewa’s standing and career as a cardiologist in Poland.
According to Ewa Sokola, her sister’s allegedly false allegations have subjected her to public scorn and indignity in Wrocław, Poland, causing her significant distress. She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Attempts to reach Kaja Sokola’s legal team and spokesperson for comments were made on Thursday and Friday.
In a mixed verdict delivered in June, Weinstein was found guilty of forcibly performing oral sex on Miriam Haley, a film and television assistant producer. However, he was acquitted of similar accusations made by Kaja Sokola, with both incidents purportedly occurring in 2006.
The trial concluded with a mistrial on the final charge, which involved allegations of rape by former actress Jessica Mann, after the jury foreperson chose not to continue deliberations.
Weinstein has not yet been sentenced as a judge weighs a defense request to throw out the verdict after two jurors told Weinstein’s lawyers that other jurors had bullied them into convicting him. Judge Curtis Farber is expected to rule on Jan. 8.
Kaja Sokola has said her sister’s testimony at Weinstein’s state court trial in New York earlier this year undermined her own testimony that he forced oral sex at a Manhattan hotel just before her 20th birthday.
Weinstein had arranged for Kaja Sokola to be an extra for a day in the film “The Nanny Diaries,” and separately agreed to meet her and Ewa. After they chatted, she testified, Weinstein told her he had a script to show her in his hotel room, and she went up with him. There, she said, Weinstein pushed her onto a bed and assaulted her.
After the trial, Kaja Sokola criticized her sister’s testimony, saying that though she was called as a prosecution witness, she ended up serving Weinstein’s cause by providing his lawyers with a journal in which she wrote about the men who had sexually assaulted her in her life but did not include Weinstein.
According to the lawsuit, Kaja Sokola repeatedly characterized her sister’s testimony as a personal “betrayal” and falsely accused her of omitting journals in which she described what happened with Weinstein.
The lawsuit also said Kaja Sokola had falsely accused Ewa Sokola of homicide, theft, falsification of medical records, sexual impropriety and immoral conduct, and of colluding with Weinstein’s defense team.
The lawsuit said Kaja Sokola’s false claims have cost Ewa Sokola referrals and led to a reduction in patients and employees for her medical practice while damaging her professional reputation and her standing within the medical community.
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