The women are taking a legal stand against the man they say assaulted and threatened them into silence.
Disgraced Hollywood hotshot Harvey Weinstein was slapped with a lawsuit Wednesday by six women who say The Weinstein Company knew all about his alleged sexual misconduct and was “complicit” in helping him cover up the deviant behavior.
Sarah Ann Thomas, Melissa Sagemiller, Nannette Klatt, Zoe Brock, Louisette Geiss and Katherine Kendall joined forces after all six claimed they were sexually assaulted by the powerful executive in disturbing encounters ranging from 1993 to 2008.
Weinstein’s lawyers denied that the former exec has ever committed an act of sexual assault, and shot down various other allegations from a New York Times piece published Tuesday.
The women have followed various career paths — some still acting, others pursuing photography or business. Now, they’re taking a legal stand against the man they say assaulted them and threatened them into silence.
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Sarah Ann Thomas (also known professionally as Sarah Ann Masse)
Thomas is a multi-hyphenate with showbiz cred as an actress, writer, singer, improviser, comedian and model, according to her website .
Her résumé is filled with a number of shorts and TV mini-series, as well as several writing credits on projects like “Gossip Spy,” “British Friend” and “Manifest Destiny.” She’s also one half of a comedy duo, We Are Thomasse, with her British husband Nick Afka Thomas, and previously ran a theatre company in New York City.
Thomas first went public with her accusation against Weinstein in October. She told Variety that in 2008, she applied to babysit the ex-honcho’s three children and arrived to the interview at his home to find him clad in boxer shorts and an undershirt. She says he made inappropriate comments about flirting to get ahead in her career, and gave her an extended hug at the end of their meeting.
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Melissa Sagemiller
Sagemiller, 43, is best known for roles in films like “Get Over It,” “Mr. Woodcock” and “The Guardian.” She’s also appeared on a number of popular TV shows, including 11 episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in 2011 and 26 episodes of “Raising the Bar” from 2008-2009.
The actress — whose last credit came in 2014 — starred on the Showtime miniseries “Sleeper Cell” from 2005-2006, and married her co-star, Alex Nesic. She scored a producing credit on her husband’s 2010 short “In Fidelity.”
The University of Virginia graduate came forward with her Weinstein story in October, and said he reminded her of Jabba the Hutt as he demanded a kiss while wearing a bathrobe during a meeting in his hotel room in 2000 while working on “Get Over It.” Sagemiller, then 24, also claims he held her luggage hostage in a bid to get her to fly on a plane with him.
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Nannette Klatt
Klatt lives in Lancaster, Calif., but appears to have left her days in the industry behind.
She has five film credits to her name, including the short films “Desert Rose” and “Cowgirl” and the 2012 feature film “Disappearing Bakersfield,” but appears to have placed her focus on photography.
A social media page for Klatt bills her as a blind fine arts photographer, and she has a website featuring photos of horses that’s been dormant since 2015. A LinkedIn profile also lists her as an employee benefits specialist as LegalShield.
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Klatt alleges Weinstein asked to see her breasts during an audition for a Miramax film, and when she refused to show him, he became angry, told her she’d never work again and locked her in a stairwell.
Zoe Brock
New Zealand model Zoe Brock has a lengthy résumé of modeling work including walking in Europe and New York Fashion week shows for top designers like Giorgio Armani, Vivienne Westwood, Fendi, Fiorucci, Gianfranco Ferre, Thierry Mugler, Dolce and Gabbana.
Brock, who refers to herself as one of Australia’s top models, lives in Los Angeles, but is temporarily residing in New Zealand. She previously called San Francisco her permanent home while being represented by an agency there.
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She acted alongside Vince Vaughn and Jaime Pressly in an episode of the Showtime series “Going to California,” and produced, co-directed, wrote and starred in a short film that won Audience Choice and Best Character at SF48HR Film Festival, according to her website .
The model claims she was 24 at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival when she wound up in a car with Weinstein and three others. The trio went up to his room for drinks, and she soon found herself alone with the exec.
He allegedly left the room and came back naked, demanding a massage, and when she refused, he asked if he could instead give her one. He forced her into the bedroom, but she ultimately escaped and Weinstein promised to make it up to her by offering career help.
Louisette Geiss
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Louisette Geiss left acting behind and has held a variety of marking jobs in the LA area since 2005. The Santa Monica, Calif., resident is currently the Westside Sales VP for First American Title, a real estate insurance company, according to a LinkedIn profile.
In 2008, she was invited to a movie premiere by Weinstein while attending the Sundance Film Festival. Weinstein asked her to meet in an office next to his hotel room and she immediately asked him not to touch her when agreeing.
Ultimately, he did, she said — returning to the room in a bathrobe and entering the hot tub where he promised to hear more of her pitch. He then climbed out, grabbed her and demanded she watch him masturbate — allegedly offering to greenlight her script if she did.
She quickly left, and claims that doing so cost her a three-film deal with The Weinstein Company.
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Some of Geiss’ past TV roles include, “Angel,” “King of Queens” and “Two and a Half Men” as well as the films “Novel Romance” in 2006 and “Dave’s Blind Date” in 2000. Her most recent credit is from 2014 on the TV movie “The Flip Side,” and she also has a producing credit for an episode of the TV series “Livin’ the Dream LA” in 2012.
