The New Yorker has shared an audio clip reportedly recorded by the NYPD in which Harvey Weinstein can be heard seemingly admitting to groping model and former Miss Italy finalist Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.
Gutierrez reported Weinstein to the police claiming he had grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt during a business meeting in his New York City office in March 2015, according to a New Yorker article authored by Ronan Farrow, the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen.
Following the alleged incident, Gutierrez met the 65-year-old film producer at the bar of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, with "a team of undercover officers" who "helped guide her through the interaction". In the recording of their encounter, Weinstein can be heard asking Gutierrez to sit with him in his hotel bathroom.
Gutierrez repeatedly tells Weinstein that she doesn't feel comfortable. "Oh, please, I'm sorry, just come on in, I'm used to that," he says in response. "I am not gonna do anything. I swear on my children. Please come in."
When she questions why he touched her breast the previous day, Weinstein adds: "I won't do it again".
When contacted for the New Yorker's story, Gutierrez said that she was unable to discuss the incident. According to a source, she signed a nondisclosure agreement with Weinstein in return for payment after the police department decided not to press charges.
Weinstein, who has not been charged with any crimes, has "unequivocally denied" the allegations made against him through a spokeswoman.
The release of the recording comes after the New York Times published a report detailing a number of sexual harassment claims against Weinstein, including alleged legal settlements with eight different women dating back over three decades.
In recent days, a rising number of Hollywood names, including Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney and Meryl Streep, have lent their voices in support of the women who have made the claims.
