“Fast and Furious” star Vin Diesel is being accused of sexual battery by his former assistant.
A lawsuit was filed against the actor in Los Angeles courts (via Vanity Fair) by ex-employee Asta Jonasson, who alleges Diesel assaulted her in September 2010 during the production of “Fast Five” in Atlanta.
Jonasson is accusing Diesel of molesting her at the St. Regis hotel after he “entertained hostesses he had brought back from a club.” Per the lawsuit, Diesel allegedly grabbed Jonasson’s wrists and pulled her onto the bed despite her asking him to stop.
“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 reads. “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 added that Jonasson screamed and ran, but Diesel allegedly pinned her to the wall, placed her hand on his erect penis, and masturbated while “terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him.”
IndieWire has reached out to Diesel’s reps for comment.
Diesel’s sister and president of his production company One Race, Samantha Vincent, later called Jonasson just hours after the alleged assault to fire her. Jonasson had recently graduated film school and was employed as Diesel’s assistant for less than two weeks; the job description included organizing parties and accompanying Diesel to events, as well as “ensuring that [Jonasson] was in close physical proximity to him in case photographs were taken of him with women when he attended events without his longtime girlfriend” as VF reported.
“It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful — Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults,” the lawsuit alleges.
Jonasson had signed a nondisclosure agreement when she started her employment at One Race. However, due to the Speak Out Act, which prevents the enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and harassment, Jonasson is filing the lawsuit.
In addition to the accusations against Diesel, Jonasson claimed that, at his production company One Race, another supervisor propositioned Jonasson in a hotel room during her employment. Allegations of discrimination on the bases of sex/gender, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and retaliation are additional claims in the lawsuit. Jonasson alleges she has suffered “humiliation, emotional distress, and mental and physical pain and anguish” from the alleged assault and her tenure at One Race.
