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Who is Harvey Weinstein accuser Annabella Sciorra and what does she say happened?


Actress Annabella Sciorra exits the courtroom during a break at state supreme court in New York. (Picture: Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Actress Annabella Sciorra took the stand this week to testify against former Hollywood mogul and movie producer Harvey Weinstein in his criminal sex crimes trial in New York.

Sciorra is one of six female witnesses, including former aspiring actresses Dawn Dunning, Tara Ley Wolf and Lauren Young, called by the prosecution to testify against Weinstein.

Weinstein has consistently claimed all sexual relationships he has had have been consensual. He is currently on trial in New York and has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including rape and sexual assault, relating to two accusers – Ms Mimi (Miriam) Haleyi and Ms Jessica Mann.

Who is Harvey Weinstein accuser Annabella Sciorra?

Annabella Sciorra is a 59-year-old, American actress who is most well known for her role in popular TV series The Sopranos.

Sciorra played Gloria Trillo in the drama for three years between 2001 and 2004, picking up an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the HBO series.

Anabella Sciorra with her castmates from The Sopranos, Vincent Pastore, David Proval, David Chase, Drea de Matteo, Steve Buscemi and Terence Winters (Picture: Brian Ach/WireImage)

Previously married to fellow actor Joe Petruzzi, Sciorra is also known for her roles in 90s movies The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, What Dreams May Come and Jungle Fever.

Recently she has appeared in true-crime TV series Truth Be Told alongside actress Octavia Spencer.

Annabella alleges she was violently raped by Harvey Weinstein in the winter of 1993-94 and this week she has been recalling the details of the attack in court.

According to the actress, she first met Weinstein in LA in 1990, but was not assaulted by him until an encounter in New York some years later.

Annabella Sciorra leaves the courtroom in Manhattan Criminal Court, on January 23. (Picture: Johannes EISELE / AFP via Getty Images)

She alleges that the now-67-year-old forced his way into her apartment after dropping her home following a dinner and, ‘pinned her hands behind her head and violently raped’ her 25 years ago.

‘I said, ‘No, no,’ but there was not much I could do at that point,’ Sciorra recalled for the court on Thursday.

‘My body shut down. It was just so disgusting that my body started to shake in a way that was unusual. I didn’t really even know what was happening. It was like a seizure,’ she said.

The actress described how she remembers seeing Weinstein several weeks later at a dinner where she had tried to confront him and tell him she had fainted during the alleged attack.

Harvey Weinstein leaves the Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday. (Picture: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

While testifying, Annabella said she hadn’t called the police, gone to the hospital or told anyone about the rape.

Sopranos star Annabella also claims that in another incident in Cannes about three years later, Weinstein turned up at her hotel room in his underwear and holding baby oil.

Weinstein’s lawyer asked the actress why she didn’t tell the other actors she was in Cannes with about Weinstein following the incident, to which Sciorra replied: ‘I never saw anybody until I was walking on the red carpet.’

The defence have argued that the women accusing Weinstein maintained relationships with him after the alleged attacks. At the start of his trial, the defence said they will prove the allegations against Weinstein are false by providing messages from the women, as well as diary and calendar entries.

Assistant district attorney Meghan Hast, however, argued in her opening statement that the women involved ‘felt trapped’ by Weinstein.

The trial continues.

MORE: Harvey Weinstein is a ‘sexual predator and rapist’ who injected himself to get an erection, jury hears

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