Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery. Photo / Getty Images
Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery. Photo / Getty Images
Warning: Details of sexual assault allegations
Actor Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery in a lawsuit filed by his former assistant.
The Fast & Furious star has had a lawsuit filed against him in Los Angeles, his former assistant alleging he sexually battered her while she was working with him on the set of Fast Five in 2010.
Vanity Fair obtained a copy of the filing reporting Asta Jonasson claims she was hired by One Race, the actor’s company, to support the star during the shoot in Atlanta with her responsibilities including accompanying him to parties, organising parties and ensuring she was in close proximity to him in case he was photographed with women other than his longterm girlfriend.
Jonasson claims in the lawsuit that in September of that year, she was instructed to wait at Diesel’s St Regis hotel suite while he allegedly spent time with women he met at a club.
The former assistant then claimed once the women were gone, the star “grabbed Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed”, resulting in her allegedly asking him to stop and escaping his grasp.
Vin Diesel in a scene from Fast & Furious 9.
Jonasson then claims Diesel approached her once more and, despite her pleas, he allegedly started groping her breast and kissing her chest.
“Ms Jonasson was afraid to more forcibly refuse her supervisor, knowing that getting him out of that room was both crucial to her personal safety and job security,” the lawsuit reports.
“But this hope died when Vin Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Ms Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Ms Jonasson’s upper legs, including her inner thighs.”
The lawsuit states by the time the actor tried to pull down Jonasson’s underwear, she screamed and ran down the hallway toward a bathroom. Diesel allegedly followed her, pinning her to the wall and reportedly forced her to touch him despite her alleged pleas of refusal, before he allegedly masturbated to a “terrified” Jonasson.
The former assistant claims in the suit that she “closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him”, and was left with a “demolished” esteem, before she “questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement”.
Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery committed against his former assistant. Photo / AP
Hours after the alleged incident, Jonasson claims she was terminated as an assistant by Samantha Vincent — Diesel’s sister and the president of One Race.
“It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful - Vin Diesel had used her to fulfil his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults,” the suit claims.
Jonasson also claims that wasn’t the only alleged incident that occurred in her short two-week stint working with the actor. She claims just days before, another supervisor of the company instructed her to come see him in his room and allegedly took off his shirt, got into bed and said: “Come here.” The lawsuit claims she then immediately exited the room.
Also in the legal filing, Jonasson claims discrimination on the basis of sex/gender, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination and retaliation.
Vanity Fair reports she is seeking damages as she “has suffered and continues to suffer humiliation, emotional distress, and mental and physical pain and anguish”.
Jonasson had signed a nondisclosure agreement, meaning she was not allowed to speak out following her employment termination, however the Speak Out Act - which prevents the enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and harassment, and California’s AB2777, which temporarily waives statutes of limitations for sexual abuse allegations occurring in 2009 or later - has allowed her to share her alleged story.
Representatives for Diesel and his production company have not responded to the publication’s request for comment.
