FRIENDS OF ONE of the women who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein say she was “distraught” when she told them about the assault, a court has heard.

Adding a new perspective to the ex-film producer’s retrial, witness Christine Pressman said her friend Miriam Haley had “zero interest in dating him or sleeping with him”. 

Pressman said she had once suggested that Haley date Weinstein but Haley baulked and was later “distraught” when she disclosed the alleged sexual assault. 

Some of the emerging details show how this trial is a reprise but not an exact repeat of the 2020 trial in which Weinstein was initially convicted of rape and sexual assault.

That conviction has since been overturned.

Pressman did not testify at the original trial. Prosecutors brought her in this time to back up Haley’s allegations.

Weinstein’s lawyers quizzed her about whether Haley had a willing sexual relationship with the studio executive.

“Never,” Pressman said.

Haley is a former production assistant on the Weinstein-produced television show Project Runway.

Weinstein maintains that he has never sexually assaulted or raped anyone. His lawyers argue that his accusers agreed to sexual encounters in hopes of getting ahead in the entertainment business.

A series of sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein became public in 2017.

He was convicted in 2020 of raping aspiring actor Jessica Mann and forcing oral sex on Haley.

New York’s highest court threw out the conviction last year, finding that the original trial judge had allowed prejudicial testimony.

The retrial includes an additional allegation of forcible oral sex on another woman, former model Kaja Sokola.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

None of the accusers has testified yet but two of Haley’s friends took the stand on Thursday to attest that she told them about the alleged July 2006 sexual assault around that time.

Elizabeth Entin, Haley’s former roommate, said a shaken Haley told her that month that Weinstein had forcibly performed oral sex on her.

Echoing her testimony at the first trial, Entin said she suggested Haley call a lawyer but her friend seemed disinclined.

Pressman said she advised Haley against turning to police when she made a similar disclosure to her in August or September of 2006.

“I said, ‘Harvey Weinstein is the king of New York. He’s extremely powerful. You are not. You’re here on a tourist visa. Just let it go,’” Pressman recalled.

She teared up as she added that she now knows her guidance “was wrong”.

Under questioning from Weinstein’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, Pressman acknowledged that at some point before the alleged assault, she suggested Haley date Weinstein.

Pressman later explained that she had been frustrated by her friend’s taste in men — guys who Pressman described as lanky, cerebral, “and broke”.

Haley rejected the notion of dating Weinstein, she said.

Bonjean went on to ask whether Pressman knew that Haley “had consensual sex with Mr Weinstein”.

Pressman said her friend did no such thing.

Haley testified at the original trial that she said “no, no, no” during the alleged assault.

A few weeks later, she did not protest when Weinstein pulled her towards a bed and had sex with her, she said, explaining that she simply “went numb”.

After jurors left for the day, Weinstein’s lawyers sought a mistrial, saying Pressman’s testimony was prejudicial. They were turned down by Judge Curtis Farber, who is now overseeing the case.

Entin found herself answering questions about what she had said and written about the first trial itself, such as describing her participation as her “15 minutes of fame”. Entin said it was a joke.

She was not asked about a recollection that made for a memorable and rare light moment at the first trial — a time when she said Weinstein showed up uninvited to the apartment she shared with Haley and was chased around by Entin’s pet chihuahua.

The judge had indicated he did not think having Entin describe the purported episode was fair game for the trial.