Who is Ambra Battilana? Model caught in Harvey Weinstein allegations who wore a secret wire to ‘record him propositioning her’
THE sexual harassment scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein deepened as it emerged the Hollywood producer was allegedly recorded apologising to an Italian model who accused him of groping her breasts.
Beauty queen Ambra Battilana Gutierrez wore a wire during a police sting in 2015 in an attempt to extract a confession from Weinstein. Here is everything we know about the model and her allegations against the disgraced movie mogul.
Who is Ambra Battilana Gutierrez?
Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, 24, is an Italian model of Filipino descent who competed in the Miss Italia 2010 pageant.
The Miss Italy finalist is one of several woman have come forward with allegations against Weinstein including high-profile stars including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie,
She claims Weinstein lunged at her breasts, groped them - then asked if they were real, and tried to put his hand up her skirt at his office in Manhattan in March 2015.
Ambra, then 22, went to cops to report his behaviour, where investigators from the NYPD’s Special Victims Division equipped her with a hidden microphone before she confronted Weinstein the next day at the nearby Tribeca Grand Hotel.
A chilling transcript from the police wire she wore during a police sting, Weinstein allegedly admitted to groping the model and said he was “used to” behaving that way.
Two weeks later, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance decided not to press charges, the New Yorker reported.
Gutierrez’s allegations come as it emerged the model had previously reported Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to police after she claimed to have witnessed his lewd behaviour at one of his bunga-bunga sex parties.
In 2010, when she was 18, the Italian-Filipina model said she was invited to attend one of the “elegant soirées” parties hosted by Berlusconi, who was then 74.
The model reportedly gave statements to Italian authorities about Berlusconia who was being investigated for paying an under-age guest for sex - a charge of which he was later acquitted.
Since the alleged Weinstein audio recording emerged, Gutierrez took to Instagram on Wednesday to share her thoughts.
She wrote: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves.
“We must believe we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
What did Harvey Weinstein allegedly say in the recording?
The two-minute clip posted by the New Yorker appears to reveal Weinstein alternating between desperate pleas and angry threats as he tried to get Ambra into his hotel room.
She can be heard directly accusing him of manhandling her, saying with a thick accent: “Why yesterday you touched my breast?”
Weinstein replies: “Oh, please. I’m sorry. Just come on in. I’m used to that.”
Ambra, sounding shocked, asks: “You’re used to that?” Weinstein replies: “Yes, come in.”
The former Miramax studio boss is also heard vowing “I won’t do it again” and “I will never do another thing to you.”
He says: “Please, I am not going to do anything. I swear on my children. Please ...I’m a famous guy.”
But his tone changes when Gutierrez resists his cajoling.
He says: “Don’t embarrass me in the hotel. I’m here all the time.
“You’ll never see me again after this, if you embarrass me in this hotel.
“Don’t ruin your friendship with me for five minutes.”
The entire recording, only part of which was posted online, captured Weinstein bragging about the many actresses whose careers he advanced, offering to get Ambra a dialect coach and repeatedly urging her to go with him to a room upstairs where he planned to shower, according to the New Yorker.
What are the allegations against Harvey Weinstein?
A shocking pattern of sexual allegations against producer Weinstein has emerged through a series of bombshell investigations published in by the and the ,
The New Yorker claims three women have accused him of rape, allegations he “unequivocally denies”.
The sexual harassment scandal surrounding Weinstein, who has collected six best picture Oscars, deepened on Tuesday when three women accused him of rape.
At least 21 accusations of varying degrees of harassment have since emerged - including seven allegations he exposed himself - and four accusations of sexual assault.
Latest on Harvey Weinstein allegations
What has Harvey Weinstein said about the allegations?
A lawyer for Weinstein claimed the allegations were "patently false".
Weinstein said in a statement: “I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it.
“Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”
Weinstein has now been forced out of his own company in the wake of the scandal.