Tag: Assistant

  • Vin Diesel faces 2010 sex assault claim by former assistant

    Vin Diesel faces 2010 sex assault claim by former assistant

    Action star Vin Diesel has been accused of sexually assaulting his assistant in an Atlanta hotel room over a decade ago, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday. The suit is the latest claim to be lodged with courts in California, which has extended the length of time in which legal action can be taken in cases of alleged sexual crimes.

    Asta Jonasson said her first assignment after being hired by the Fast and Furious star’s company was to travel to Atlanta in September 2010 during the filming of Fast Five. There, she was tasked with helping Diesel leave a hotel in the early morning hours after entertaining multiple women in a suite, before paparazzi were alerted to his whereabouts.

    “Alone in the hotel suite with him, Vin Diesel sexually assaulted Ms Jonasson. Vin Diesel forcibly grabbed Ms Jonasson, groped her breasts, and kissed her. Ms Jonasson struggled continually to break free of his grasp, while repeatedly saying no. “Vin Diesel then escalated his assault,” the suit said, with the actor trying to pull down his assistant’s underwear.

    The suit stated that Jonasson fled to a bathroom, where Diesel pursued her, and forced her to touch him. He then pinned her against a wall and masturbated. The following day, Samantha Vincent, the actor’s sister and president of One Race, the entertainment company that employed Jonasson, allegedly called and fired her.

    “The message was clear. Ms Jonasson was fired for courageously resisting Vin Diesel’s sexual assault, Vin Diesel would be protected, and his sexual assault covered up,” the suit said. The civil suit seeks unspecified damages against Diesel, Vincent and their companies.

    Diesel’s lawyer Bryan Freedman said his client “categorically denies this claim in its entirety” and that there is evidence that “completely refutes” the allegations, according to a statement published by Variety. Representatives for Diesel did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment. Jonasson has waived the right to anonymity customarily granted to victims of alleged sex abuse.

    The global #MeToo movement has seen powerful men in the world of entertainment punished for their abusive and predatory behaviour, starting with bombshell allegations against industry titan Harvey Weinstein in 2017 that led to his imprisonment on multiple sex assault convictions.

  • Did you know Priyanka Chopra’s mother is a fan of Sheheryar Munawar?

    Did you know Priyanka Chopra’s mother is a fan of Sheheryar Munawar?

    Sheheryar Munawar has revealed that Priyanka Chopra’s mother was a fan of his acting in the drama Kahi Unkahi.

    Read more – Sheheryar Munawar reacts to his viral interview with ‘The Current’

    Recalling the time when he worked with Chopra on a project in 2015, Munawar in a recent interview, said that Priyanka called him during the shoot and told him that her mother is a fan.

    Munawar shared that he was blowing out her hair for the shoot when she called him by his name.

    “I instantly died when I realised she knew my name,” laughed Sheheryar. “She then said, ‘My mother is a fan of you’. And I was like ‘huh’? She said yeah, she’s in the vanity, would you join me there for a bit? She wants a picture with you.”

    “My play Kahi Unkahi was airing on Zee Zindagi [at the time] and Chopra’s mother found me cute as a child,” said Sheheryar further.

    “It was very interesting,” he added, remarking that he was surprised how Chopra’s mother wished to meet a guy who at the time was running around the sets, fetching water bottles and sweeping the floors.

    “I was so shocked when it was happening but Priyanka was so sweet about it. She said Sheheryar obviously I know you, my mother is a fan, come with me to the vanity,” he said, adding how there was strict security on the sets and to cross the boundary to make it to the star’s vanity was rare.

    “But they were both so sweet, we clicked a few pictures, and there was that,” he added, concluding the story.

    “Later, I was the blower guy again when we shot an ad campaign with Sonam Kapoor,” said Munawar, laughing.

    Read more – Sheheryar Munawar hits back at troll who called him ‘ghareebon ka Bradley Cooper’

    During the interview, Munawar also revealed that he was once interested in becoming a cricketer and practised a lot for it but didn’t pursue it further.