Vin Diesel has vehemently denied a former assistant’s “outlandish” allegations against him in a new lawsuit.
The actor, best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the Fast and Furious franchise, was accused of alleged sexual battery by Asta Jonasson in a suit filed in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The 56-year-old has since refuted claims that he sexually molested her at Atlanta’s St. Regis hotel during production of Fast 5 in 2010.
In response to the lawsuit, his attorney Bryan Freedman said: “Let me be very clear Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety.
“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.”
In the suit, Ms Jonasson said she was hired by production company One Race Films to be the actor’s assistant while he filmed the movie in Georgia.
The lawsuit, obtained by Vanity Fair, alleged that in September 2010, Ms. Jonasson was asked to wait in Vin Diesel’s suite at the St. Regis hotel while he entertained hostesses he had brought back from a club.
Once the other women were gone, the lawsuit claimed that the actor allegedly “grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed.”
She allegedly asked him to stop, escaped his grasp, and waited by the front door of the suite for him to leave.
The lawsuit then alleged that he again approached Ms. Jonasson and began to grope her breasts and kiss her chest, despite her pleas 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 suit continued.
“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.”
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s sister Samantha Vincent alleged that hours after the incident took place, Ms. Jonasson was called to terminate her employment after less than two weeks on the job.
“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 alleged.
It also claimed that Ms. Jonasson’s “self-esteem was demolished, and she questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement.”
On top of sexual battery, the lawsuit claimed discrimination on the bases of sex/gender, intentional infliction of emotional distress, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and retaliation.
It also accused the 56-year-old actor and his production of an attempted cover-up and states that Ms. Jonasson “has suffered and continues to suffer humiliation, emotional distress, and mental and physical pain and anguish.”
According to the lawsuit, having signed a nondisclosure agreement when she took the position, Ms. Jonasson maintained her silence over the ensuing years.
The suit claimed that she was able to file the claims thanks to 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.
The actor, whose real name is Mark Sinclair, has been in a longterm relationship with Paloma Jiménez since 2007, and the couple share three kids together.
