Actor Mel Gibson can be called to testify against Harvey Weinstein at the producer’s upcoming Los Angeles rape trial, a judge ruled on Friday.
Prosecutors want to call the actor to support the allegations of Jane Doe 3, who claims that Weinstein sexually assaulted her after she gave him a massage at his hotel in 2010.
According to Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez, the woman later told Gibson about the incident during a massage, and Gibson’s testimony would help defend her allegation.
Judge Lisa B Lench allowed prosecutors to call Gibson to the stand. She also denied a defense request that they be allowed to ask Gibson about racist and anti-semitic statements he has made over the years. But the defense will be allowed to ask whether Gibson holds a grudge against Weinstein. The defense argued that Gibson has ill will toward Weinstein dating from the release of The Passion of the Christ (2004), which was widely seen to play on anti-semitic themes. Weinstein later published a book, Perspectives on the Passion of the Christ, that challenged the film. “This created a feud between Mr Gibson and Mr Weinstein,” argued Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney.
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When Werksman inaccurately claimed that the film won an Oscar for best picture, Weinstein gestured no with his arms and with a look of disdain. Werksman also argued that Gibson is “now trying to rehabilitate his image by becoming a champion of the #MeToo movement.
According to the attorneys, Gibson told investigators that Jane Doe 3 had a “PTSD reaction” when he brought up the name Harvey. Gibson was talking about Weinstein in the context of a business deal. The woman stopped the massage, started crying and “gave the idea that Weinstein sexually assaulted her,” Werksman said.
A conviction in LA could effectively guarantee that he’s behind bars for life.
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