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Harvey Weinstein London 'victims' quizzed by Met Police detectives in US

Accusers: Uma Thurman, with Weinstein: WireImage
Accusers: Uma Thurman, with Weinstein: WireImage

Scotland Yard detectives investigating disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein have flown to the United States to interview his alleged victims, the Evening Standard can reveal.

The police team has spoken to a number of women who claim they were assaulted by Weinstein when he visited London for events such as film premieres.

Among his alleged victims is the actress Uma Thurman, who has claimed he attacked her in his Savoy hotel suite in the mid-Nineties. Scotland Yard said officers from the force’s child abuse and sexual offences command have received allegations of sexual assault from 10 people.

Earlier this year Thurman, 48, alleged in an interview with the New York Times that Weinstein sexually assaulted her shortly after the London premiere of Pulp Fiction in 1994.

She said: “He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things. But he didn’t actually put his back into it and force me.”

Lysette Anthony (Getty Images)
Lysette Anthony (Getty Images)

Police in New York and Los Angeles are already investigating allegations made against Weinstein, 66. The Metropolitan police’s inquiry is separate to the US investigations.

Confirming the US trip, a Met spokeswoman said: “Officers involved in this investigation travelled to the United States in June as part of their inquiries. We are not prepared to discuss further.” It is not clear whether the detectives travelled to New York or Los Angeles, or both, or how many possible witnesses they have interviewed.

Others who have publicly accused Weinstein of assaulting them in London are Norwegian actress and model Natassia Malthe and British star Lysette Anthony.

Natassia Malthe (Getty Images)
Natassia Malthe (Getty Images)

The Met confirmed it had opened an investigation into Weinstein last October after Ms Anthony said she was assaulted by him at her Chelsea home. The actress, 54, who has played Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks for 10 years, said the alleged attack had occurred in the late-Eighties.

She has already given evidence to the police investigation codenamed Operation Kaguyak.

Malthe, 44, who has appeared in films such as Elektra and Lake Placid, accused Weinstein of raping her in her room at the Sanderson Hotel, Fitzrovia, in 2008 after a Bafta awards party.

Actress Kate Beckinsale, 45, claimed she had a troubling encounter with the co-founder of the Miramax film studio at the Savoy when she was 17. The Underworld actress said in a statement she had escaped “unscathed”, but for years declined invitations to work on Miramax productions, a move she said resulted in the producer calling her vulgar names and threatening her.

In addition, an unnamed former Miramax employee claimed Weinstein raped her in the basement flat of his London offices in about 1992.

More than 70 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including rape, in alleged attacks dating back decades. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. Weinstein appeared in court in New York in June to plead not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges. In July he denied three additional sex crime charges.

He is due in court again next month.