Getty Images
Melissa Thompson Reportedly Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Rape in New Class Action Lawsuit
Harvey Weinstein is making headlines again for allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. A new class action lawsuit against Harvey, 66, was filed on Friday, June 1. This lawsuit and a new flood of sexual harassment and rape accusations comes just days after Harvey was indicted for rape in another case and after his wife Georgina Champan gave her first public interview since filing for divorce.
The new court papers introduce Melissa Thompson, who in 2011, met with Harvey to pitch him a computer software program, according to E! News. At the time, the now 34-year-old was working as a consultant at a technology start-up company, and allegedly, their interaction quickly turned south. The altercation began in Harvey’s office when he inappropriately touched her during Melissa’s tech pitch.
Later, when they met at a hotel restaurant, court papers say Melissa had high hopes of “securing the deal” for her company. Instead, she details that Harvey misled her by bringing her to his hotel room instead of the public screening room their meeting was supposed to take place at.
The lawsuit then goes on to describe how Harvey began giving Melissa an unwarranted, unwanted massage. After Melissa fled to the bathroom, she came back to the main room to see that Harvey had undressed himself from the waist down and told her to join him in the shower.
Court papers state Harvey then allegedly “held Thompson down and raped her.” After the assault, he suggested they get in the shower together. Before Melissa left the suite, court papers state that Harvey allegedly began mentioning the contracts with her company again, citing the “roles he had in mind for her.” He then allegedly promised her he’d set up a meeting with his co-workers.
Melissa garnered video evidence from the assault, as the cameras on her computer software were rolling during the encounter. The Blast obtained a screenshot from the footage on Friday, which shows what appears to be Harvey grabbing Melissa’s arm.
The two other women named in the class action lawsuit are Larissa Gomes and Caitlin Dulany, who worked with Harvey in 2000 and 1996, respectively. Keep reading to find out more about Melissa.
Melissa is a cancer survivor.
Just five weeks after giving birth to her daughter Poppy, Melissa was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. Before even getting chemotherapy treatment, Melissa’s first course of action was to freeze her eggs in order to ensure her cancer treatment did not affect her fertility, should she want to have more children in the future.
She has a law named after her.
Melissa’s cancer diagnosis quickly paved the way for her to become an advocate within the infertility and cancer communities. Halfway through the process of freezing her eggs, Melissa was informed by her insurer that they would no longer conver the invasive, expensive procedure. “They told me they were rescinding the authorization because I had cancer, not infertility,” she told the Stamford Advocate at the time.
Melissa became a cancer activist, working to ensure that insurance companies include coverage for cancer patients or any other kind of medical condition that can negatively affect fertility, according to Heavy. The bill became a law named Melissa’s Law for Fertility Preservation and while it has already passed in both Connecticut and Rhode Island, Melissa is fighting to bring it to 13 more states.
Melissa attended Columbia Business School.
Melissa has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Chinese from Barnard College, studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, and graduated with an MBA from Columbia.
Her now ex-husband used to work for Rudy Guiliani.
In 2005, Melissa Thompson married Oliver Libby at the Rainbow Room in NYC. At the time, their wedding announcement, which was published in the New York Times, cited Libby as working for Guiliani Partners, a consultancy company under former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani’s name. Libby’s bio says he was also the Deputy Director of Energy Policy for the Guiliani for President Campaign in 2007-2008.
Bill Gates and Barack Obama are fans of her work.
Both Bill Gates and former President Barack Obama have hailed Melissa Thompson’s award-winning work. Melissa’s technology platform, TalkSession, allows healthcare providers to stay in contact with mental health patients, which Bill Gates heralded as a “game-changer” in a 2013 essay he penned for Wired.
Obama also had positive things to say about Melissa’s technology, TalkSession. He presented her with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award and her presentation was live-streamed on the White House’s official website. She was also awarded the Innovator of the Year Award at the 2013 International Women in Business Awards.
This new lawsuit comes after about 70 women publicly accused Harvey of sexual assault and misconduct. Last year, the disgraced producer denied the allegations and his lawyer has revealed that he plans to plead not guilty. No official comment has been made by Harvey’s camp as of yet regarding this new class action lawsuit.
