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More than a year after the New York Times first published its bombshell report on Harvey Weinstein, dozens of women have come forward to share strikingly similar stories of his alleged sexual abuse. Over the span of three decades, according to multiple accounts, Weinstein often invited unsuspecting women to private hotel rooms and offices on the pretense of chatting about work, thus getting them alone and subsequently vulnerable. A lengthy investigation from the New Yorker also found evidence that he used secret settlements and private investigators to silence his victims and suppress their allegations from going public.But when Louisette Geiss came forward with her own story in October 2017 about being harassed by Weinstein, she wasnât aware of any of these other allegations. She knew what had happened to her, and she wanted to corroborate the claims of the handful of women who had gone public by then.In 2008, Geiss, then an actress and screenwriter, says she took a meeting with Weinstein while they were both at the Sundance Film Festival. She hoped he would produce a script sheâd written. A dinner meeting continued to his hotel room at his request, and eventually Weinstein excused himself and returned wearing nothing but an open robe. He promised to help her career if she watched him masturbate in the hot tub.On October 10, 2017âjust a few days after that first Times reportâGeiss sat in a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles and talked about that day. It was her #MeToo story. âWhen I finished my pitch,â she told the room of reporters, âI was obviously nervous, and he kept asking me to watch him masturbate. I told him I was leaving."Geiss says the decision to speak out last year had a lot to do with Weinsteinâs âarrogance and dismissalâ after the Times and New Yorker stories came out. He not only threatened to sue the Times, Geiss recalls, but âhe also said that it was such a good story he wanted to buy the movie rights. That comment really cut me to the bone because it felt so disrespectful.âDespite her resolve, Geiss says sharing her story that October day was âextremely nerve-wracking.â She was afraid of public backlash. She wasnât sure how her employers would handle the situation. And, most of all, she was afraid that Weinstein would ultimately sue her and take all her property and assets. âI was in a position where I could lose everything for coming forward,â she says.Geissâwho was also appointed to a committee charged with keeping an eye on the Weinstein Companyâs bankruptcy case in order to ensure victimsâ claims are addressed throughout the caseâsays their goal is to address not only perpetrators like Weinstein, but also the people who support them despite knowing about their sexual misconduct.âThatâs going to make a lot more people think differently and change,â Geiss says. âHarvey was the nucleus of the evil, if you will, but all these things rotating around himânothing changed him. He just kept doing it for 30 years.âShe admits, however, that being on the frontline to hold Weinstein and others accountable has been challenging. Even listening to Judge Hellersteinâs comments in their September hearing was difficult. According to Courthouse News Service, Hellerstein commented that the producer âwasnât attractive in such a way that, say, Paul Newman was attractive. He wanted sex.ââItâs a very emotional topic, obviously, for me,â Geiss says. âTo give it all up was not an easy choice. I did make my living as creative person. To reinvent myself was also very difficult. To be reminded of it a lot, and now reminded of my experience publicly, is not easy at all.âIn many ways, Geiss, who has a full-time job and four kids, has also become something of a beacon, regularly drawing both men and women who want to share with her their own experiences of dealing with harassmentâand, occasionally, unwanted opinions.
At a recent real estate industry conference she attended as a featured speaker, a man she didnât know struck up a conversation with her about Brett Kavanaughâs Senate confirmation hearing. He questioned Dr. Christine Blasey Fordâs testimony, which she found upsetting: Geiss says she understands what it feels like to come forward with a deeply personal allegation only to have people question its truthfulness.âI do everything I can, though, to keep it together,â she adds, âbecause I do feel like continually teaching and changing our script and how we live our lives moving forward is an important thing. If I get upset or anything, theyâre not going to hear you.âThatâs not to say sheâs not impacted by those negative experiences. That night, after speaking with the Kavanaugh supporter, Geiss says she woke up at 2 AM thinking about what the man had said. Her heart was racing.
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Today, more than a year after she shared how Weinsteinâs alleged behavior made her leave the entertainment industry, Geiss continues to champion the need for change in the workplace. In addition to public engagements and talking one-on-one with influencers in her own field (she now works in real estate), Geiss is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed last December against Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein, their company The Weinstein Company, Miramax, and several other individuals. (Weinstein, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, faces several civil suits in addition to criminal charges, and has tried to get Geissâ class-action suit dismissed.)According to the complaint, Geiss and the other plaintiffs who will serve as proxy for a class of victims allege that Weinsteinâs sexual advances âcaused injury to their business prospects, career, reputation, and severe emotional and physical distress.âIn September, the judge presiding over their case, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, instructed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to strengthen their arguments. They did, adding a new, unnamed victim who said her experiences of harassment and assaultâincluding an incident of allegedly being forced to massage Weinsteinâs penisâbegan in 2002 when she was 16 years old.“I was in a position where I could lose everything for coming forward."
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At a recent real estate industry conference she attended as a featured speaker, a man she didnât know struck up a conversation with her about Brett Kavanaughâs Senate confirmation hearing. He questioned Dr. Christine Blasey Fordâs testimony, which she found upsetting: Geiss says she understands what it feels like to come forward with a deeply personal allegation only to have people question its truthfulness.
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Most of her interactions with people, though, are positive, such as the man who approached her after a talk she gave at the same conference about creating a new normal where workplace sexual abuse is no longer an issue. Geiss says he told her, âI donât have even kids, and I donât care who has kids, weâve got to make a change.âThose kinds of conversations take place outside of prominent speaking engagements as well. For example, she says, a woman from a networking group she started reached out to her recently wanting to talk about an incident a family member had dealt with. Itâs hard to hear these stories, Geiss says, but âI honor the fact that people trust me.â“My gut tells me I did do the right thing, but it’s still hard to deal with.”
âWomen shouldnât be treated this way no matter where the hell you go,â Geiss continues. â[But] to sacrifice yourself to do that is very challenging. Iâm always grappling with: did I do the right thing by my family? Iâm constantly worried that in helping a lot of other people, that Iâm affecting my two girls.â (Her two youngest children are one and two years old.)âMy gut tells me I did do the right thing, but itâs still hard to deal with.â