US TV reporter Lauren Sivan says Harvey Weinstein exposed himself to her after she rejected him
A US TV reporter has told ITV News how a "lovely" and "chatty" Harvey Weinstein angrily exposed himself to her after she rejected his advances at a dinner party.
Lauren Sivan said the now-disgraced film mogul's "whole demeanour changed" when she "recoiled" as he leaned in to kiss her after allegedly cornering her in a New York restaurant's deserted kitchen.
Ms Sivan, who was working at a Long Island news channel at the time, said Weinstein had offered her a tour of the restaurant after they met each other at a gathering a decade ago.
She said she agreed as they had had a "wonderful" conversation at the table, but when he led her downstairs felt concerned as it was an "empty dark room".
"He leaned in to kiss me," she said. "And I recoiled and I said, 'I'm so sorry, I'm not interested I have a boyfriend'."
She went on: "That's when his whole demeanour changed. He got very annoyed and angry and he just said 'can you be quiet?'"
Ms Sivan alleges Weinstein then exposed himself and engaged in a sexual act in front of her.
"I stood there frozen," she said. "I couldn't believe it. You're just in a panic."
Ms Sivan said she wanted to tell her story having seen Weinstein issue a denial after several high-profile actresses went public with allegations of sexual harassment.
"I can only imagine what those poor actresses went through," she said.
Regarding her own alleged encounter, she said: "More disgusting than the act itself was his arrogance and bravado.
"And the idea that 'I brought you down here and you're either going to comply or stand there and be quiet. But you're not leaving and something's happening.'"
Ms Sivan, now a TV reporter in Los Angeles, said she had told "dozens of people" privately about the alleged incident and was met with little surprise.
"Not only is it a bizarro crazy story, but apparently it's this secret in Hollywood that everybody knows," she said.
Ms Sivan said she could see how the power of a figure she described as a "titan of Hollywood" would help to deter women from speaking out.
"There were so many people that did business with him, so many people that owed him favours, so many people that wanted to curry favour with him," she said.
"If you were going to go public with a story about Harvey Weinstein you were going to feel the blowback for sure."
Weinstein, who issued a general apology for his past treatment of women, has not addressed Ms Sivan's claims directly.
However, his spokesperson issued the following statement in response to separate allegations of rape.
"Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein," Sallie Hofmeister said.
She continued: "Mr Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances."