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Paz de la Huerta claims that she was raped twice by disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein. She opened up to Vanity Fair about two encounters that she had with Weinstein in which she says he forced himself on her. She is the latest woman to come forth with accusations against Weinstein.
The actress, 33, has dozens of credits to her name. She grew up in New York City, where she resides today.
Here is what you need to know:
1. De la Huerta Claims Weinstein Raped Her Twice & Her Accusations Could Be Enough for Police to Arrest Him
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De la Huerta first met Weinstein while she was working on the film Cider House Rules (1999). At that time, she was just 14 years old. In November 2010, the two bumped into each other at the Top of the Standard bar in Manhattan, according to Vanity Fair. De la Huerta claims that Weinstein offered her a ride home that night and then “demanded” that she let him into her apartment.
“Things got very uncomfortable very fast. Immediately when we got inside the house, he started to kiss me and I kind of brushed [him] away. Then he pushed me onto the bed and his pants were down and he lifted up my skirt. I felt afraid. . . . It wasn’t consensual . . . It happened very quickly. . . . He stuck himself inside me. . . . When he was done he said he’d be calling me. I kind of just laid on the bed in shock,” de la Huerta told Vanity Fair.
A month later, de la Huerta says that Weinstein showed up at her apartment building after he’d been drinking.
“He hushed me and said, ‘Let’s talk about this in your apartment.’ I was in no state. I was so terrified of him. . . . I did say no, and when he was on top of me I said, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ He kept humping me and it was disgusting. He’s like a pig. . . . He raped me. [Afterward], I laid there feeling sick. He looked at me and said, ‘I’ll put you in a play.’ He left and I never heard from him again. He knew he had done a bad thing,” de la Huerta explained.
Because de la Huerta’s claims are dated after 2006, her experience alone might be cause for an arrest, according to New York Police Department detective, Nicholas DiGaudio.
“I believe, based on my interviews with Paz that from the N.Y.P.D. standpoint, we have enough to make an arrest,” DiGaudio told Vanity Fair. Weinstein is currently in Arizona seeking treatment, according to TMZ.
Rape is a class B felony in the state of New York. Those convicted of rape in the first degree face anywhere from five to 25 years in prison.
“Rape in the first degree is also classified as a violent felony offense. As such if you are convicted you will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 25 years. You must serve at least 6/7 of your prison sentence before you will be eligible to be released on parole,” attorney Stepehn Bilkis’ Criminal Defense website reads.
2. De la Huerta Is Best Known for Her Role on ‘Boardwalk Empire’
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You may recognize de la Huerta from her role on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. The actress played Lucy Danziger from 2010 through 2011, appearing in 24 episodes. It was during this time that de la Huerta had her encounters with Weinstein and she said that she had a really tough time handling what happened to her. According to Vanity Fair, de la Huerta “became depressed and drank excessively.”
“I was very traumatized. I don’t think I was taking very good care of myself. What happened with Harvey left me scarred for many years. I felt so disgusted by it, with myself . . . I became a little self-destructive. It was really hard for me to deal, to cope,” de la Huerta told Vanity Fair.
De la Huerta’s contract was not renewed for her return after Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire.
Over the years, de la Huerta has been in several movies including A Walk to Remember (2002), The Editor (2014), and Streets of East L.A. (2016). In recent months, she has finished filming Puppy Love and Superstrata, both slated for release before the end of the year.
3. De la Huerta Was Arrested in 2011 after a Fight with an MTV Star & She Sued Lionsgate for $55 Million in 2016
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A New York girl through and through, de la Huerta grew up in SoHo with her mom, Judith Bruce, and her sister, Rafaela. Her father, Ricardo Ignacio de la Huerta y Ozores, was in the French Foreign Legion.
De la Huerta started modeling and acting at the tender young age of 4. She attended Saint Ann’s, a private school in Brooklyn. In an effort to foster her love for show business, de la Huerta’s mom sent her to the SoHo Children’s Acting Studio. As a kid, de la Huerta also attended Buck’s Rock Camp in New Milford, Connecticut. She currently lives in TriBeCa.
In 2011, de la Huerta was arrested at the Top of the Standard after getting into a fight with Samantha Swetra, from MTV’s The City.
“Samantha made a few snide remarks about Paz’s level of inebriation … and Paz got pissed, throwing a glass and punching Samantha in the face,” TMZ reported at the time. De la Huerta went to court where she was ordered to complete community service and pay a fine, according to the Washington Post.
In other news de la Huerta news, the actress filed a $55 million lawsuit against Lionsgate Films after a 2013 accident in which she broke her tailbone and fractured her spine. De la Huerta was filming Nurse 3-D when she was hit by an ambulance on set in Toronto, Canada. Although she filed a personal injury lawsuit after the accident, a judge dismissed the case because de la Huerta had already been awarded worker’s compensation.
“I was hit by a truck going easily 65 miles per hour. I died. I had that experience people talk about. I want justice for all. This shouldn’t be able to happen to anybody,” de la Huerta told the New York Daily News.
Her attorney filed paperwork in Los Angeles in June 2015 citing breach of contract (she claims that Lionsgate used an unauthorized voice-over for her character), intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and trademark infringement, according to the New York Daily News.
You can watch her talk about the accident in the video below.
De la Huerta’s lawyer, Aaron Filler, released the following statement about the case last year.
“Watching (the accident) video is absolutely horrific. But what’s even worse is that Lionsgate is attempting to defend it on ludicrously offensive First Amendment grounds. Conducting a sloppy stunt that severely injures an innocent actress is many things — reckless, shameful and grossly irresponsible spring to mind — but one thing it isn’t is freedom of speech,” Filler said in a statement. If Lionsgate had any decency, they would finally do right by Ms. de la Huerta. She lost years of her career and her life because of their lackadaisical attitude towards on-set safety. No hard-working actor or actress should be rashly mowed down at their place of work without any consequences for those responsible. For the sake of anyone who ever sets foot on a movie set, it is long overdue for the courts to signal that this kind of behavior will not stand.”
Last month, a judge ruled in favor of Lionsgate.
4. De La Huerta Was Born with a Recurring Cystic Hygroma
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De la Huerta was born with a recurring cystic hygroma located between her armpit and her rib cage on her right side. After she was born, doctors performed surgery to remove the growth. However, it returned when she was 3 years old and she had to have another surgery.
“Cystic hygromas are abnormal growths that usually appear on a baby’s neck or head. They consist of one or more cysts and tend to grow larger over time …Cystic hygromas are fluid-filled sacs caused by blockages in the lymphatic system (a network of organs and tissues that help remove toxins and waste from your body),” according to Health Line.
Every few years, de la Huerta has to have the cystic hygroma removed.
According to New York Magazine, de la Huerta traveled to Lourdes with her parents when she was a child. Her parents took the “Catholic pilgrimage” and had her “dipped into holy water,” hoping that the healing powers would keep the hygroma at bay. Their efforts didn’t result in a cure, however, and de la Huerta has had several surgeries over the past 33 years.
5. De La Huerta Dated Scott Weiland & She Is Obsessed with Elvis Presley
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De la Huerta’s dating life hasn’t been front and center throughout her career like other celebrities. The actress previously dated musician Scott Weiland, but their relationship only lasted about a year, from 2008-2009 according to Who’s Dated Who. The site claims that de la Huerta is currently single.
In a 2011 interview with the New York Times, de la Huerta opened up about a trip that she took with Weiland — a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Graceland. In this interview, de la Huerta also talked about about her obsession with Elvis Presley.
“I was with my ex-boyfriend and had to beg him to go to Graceland. I felt like he was jealous of Elvis because I’ve always been infatuated by him, which is hysterical because he’s passed away,” de la Huerta told the New York Times. “So I went to his recording studio because sometimes the sensitive people feel him in this room, and I stood in this corner and I felt him. What can I say? I felt him touch me … I felt his spirit go through me and give me pleasure. I experienced that when my cat died. She waited until I got home from Sundance, and she passed away the second she was in my arms, and I felt her spirit go through my body. But this was different. It was like Elvis was tickling me with a feather,” de la Huerta added.
In 2015, Weiland was found dead on his tour bus following a drug overdose. According to Billboard, Weiland, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001, was found in the bus’ bedroom. Police found cocaine, Viagra, a painkiller, sleeping pills, and the bi-polar prescription drug Ziprasidone on the bus.
