A former assistant to Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel filed a lawsuit against him on Thursday alleging that he sexually battered her in 2010 and that she was fired from her job just hours later.
In the lawsuit, filed in a Los Angeles court, the former assistant Asta Jonasson alleges that Diesel assaulted her in an Atlanta hotel room while the pair were working on the movie Fast Five.
“Let me be very clear: Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety,” lawyer Bryan Freedman said in a statement reported by the trade outlet Variety. “This is the first he has ever heard about this more than 13-year-old claim made by a purportedly nine-day employee. There is clear evidence which completely refutes these outlandish allegations.”
Jonasson’s lawyer Claire-Lise Kutlay said in a statement: “Sexual harassment in the workplace will never stop if powerful men are protected from accountability.
“We hope her courageous decision to come forward helps create lasting change and empowers other survivors.”
In her lawsuit, Jonasson alleges that Diesel forcibly groped her breasts and kissed her after he had spent a night entertaining multiple women in his hotel suite.
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“Vin Diesel ignored Ms Jonasson’s clear statements of non-consent to his sexual assaults,” the lawsuit reads.
At that point, the lawsuit alleges Diesel forced Jonasson to grab his erect penis, she yelled for him to stop, then he pinned her against a wall and masturbated, only letting her free when he was done. He then left the hotel room.
A few hours later, the lawsuit alleges, Jonasson was fired from her job as assistant to Diesel.
The lawsuit said Jonasson remained silent for years “afraid to speak out against one of the world’s highest-grossing actors, afraid she would be ostracised from the industry”.
Diesel has starred as Dominic Toretto since the The Fast and Furious franchise’s inaugural film in 2001. The films have become big earners at the domestic and international box office, with the past two films each making more than US$1 billion.
Earlier this year, the franchise’s tenth instalment, Fast X, starring Diesel, opened with US$67.5 million in ticket sales.
Jonasson is one of many women to accuse prominent entertainment industry figures of sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement began in 2017, in the aftermath of accusations against now-imprisoned movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
Additional reporting Associated Press