Vin Diesel strongly rejected his former assistant’s sexual battery lawsuit.
“Let me be very clear: Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety,” Diesel’s attorney Bryan Freedman told Us Weekly on Thursday, December 21. “This is the first he has heard about this 13-year-old claim by a 9-day employee. These absurd claims are disproven by unequivocal evidence.”
Asta Jonasson sued Diesel, 56, on Thursday, alleging he forced her against a wall and masturbated in front of her in 2010. (Vanity Fair reported the lawsuit first.)
Jonasson said in court documents acquired by Us that Diesel’s One Race company hired her to assist him in Atlanta during Fast Five production. She said she was ordered to wait in Diesel’s hotel suite one night. After arriving, Diesel allegedly grabbed her arms and “pulled her onto the bed.” Jonasson begged him to stop and escaped, but Diesel allegedly approached her again and kissed her chest.
Hollywood has had its share of controversies despite its flash and grandeur. A 2017 New York Times and New Yorker investigation accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Weinstein was subsequently tried and convicted.
“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 court statement stated. “This hope died when Vin Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body.”
Jonasson claims Diesel’s sister, Samantha Vincent, dismissed her hours after the event. Jonasson had worked for Diesel (born Mark Sinclair) for two weeks.
Jonasson also charged the actor of sex/gender discrimination, deliberate emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and retaliation. She said Diesel and his colleagues tried to hide the occurrence.
Jonasson’s lawsuit also claimed she had an uncomfortable interaction with an unnamed One Race manager days before Diesel. She claimed the supervisor requested her to join him in his hotel bed, but she declined.
Instead of friends, they have family. Since its start, Fast & Furious has seen many changes onscreen and off. In 2001, few viewers anticipated a sequel to The Fast and the Furious, never alone a multibillion-dollar franchise.
In sexual assault and harassment situations, the Speak Out Act in California prohibits nondisclosure agreements. Jonasson sued because of it. (She said she signed an NDA during the incident.) AB2777 temporarily extended the statutes of limitations for 2009 or later sexual assault complaints in California.
The lawsuit read: “Empowered by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, Jonasson is unwilling to remain silent any longer and seeks to reclaim her agency and justice for the suffering she endured at Vin Diesel and One Race.