Weinstein's indictment vindicates Filipina model

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Ambra Gutierez suffered from depression after authorities dismissed her allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

FILIPINA/ITALIAN MODEL Ambra Gutierrez feels vindicated and relieved now that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is finally being brought to justice.

After seeing photos and TV coverage of of Weinstein walking into the NYPD’s 1st Precinct on Friday morning, Guitierrez told The New York Daily Post: “It’s like waking up from a dream and not knowing if it was true or not.”

Weinstein, 66, turned himself in to police Thursday (May 25) to face felony charges of criminal sexual misconduct and alleged rape against two women (former aspiring actress Lucia Evans and an unnamed party who is not Gutierrez). Weinstein, once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, did not enter a plea in Manhattan Criminal Court and was freed on $1 million bail.

“All the memories are coming back,” she said. “Those three years I lost. It’s a bit of sadness and happiness at the same time. Now people believe me and I feel like those three years were worth it for anything I went through.”

RELATED: Filipina at center of allegations against Harvey Weinstein

Guitierrez, who was 22 at the time Weinstein invited her to his office, was one of the first women to bring Weinstein's abusive behavior to the attention of law enforcement. 

After meeting at a social occasion, the movie producer invited Guitierrez up to his Tribeca office where he allegedly groped her breast and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

She left distraught and went to the authorities. The NYPD persuaded her to put on a hidden microphone and meet up with Weinstein. At the meeting, he offered his apologies, essentially admitted to the sexual misconduct. As he was apologizing, he also tried to invite the model to his hotel room.

But Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. declined to prosecute Weinstein, stating there still wasn’t enough evidence.

Ambra Battaliana Guiterrez grew up in Italy.

She was allegedly silenced with a $1-million and a non-disclosure agreement from Weinstein.

“I didn’t even understand almost what I was doing with all those papers. I was really disoriented. My English was very bad,” the model told the New Yorker. She realized the gravity of the situation when she saw Weinstein’s lawyer’s hands shaking, she said.

“The moment I (signed) it, I really felt it was wrong,” she added.

She told the New Yorker that she accepted the deal after working with the NYPD to secretly record Weinstein admitting to groping her. As part of Weinstein’s payout, Gutierrez was also made to sign a statement — to be released if she ever broke the non-disclosure agreement — which stated that the behavior Weinstein to which admitted on tape never happened.

An attorney who has seen the agreement called it “the most usurious one I have seen in decades of practice,” according to New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow, who did not name the lawyer.

“I felt like I was going crazy,” Gutierrez told the New York Post. “No one believed me."

Farrow's reporting in the New Yorker on Guitierrez's experience with Weinstein opened the doors to further investigations and gave courage to other women who suffered Weinstein's advances and sexual misconduct. The New York Times published in October last year explosive allegations against Weinstein by high profile stars such as Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow. Their stories led to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and a revolt against men abusing their power and influence against women.

After years of depression and dealing with an eating disorder, Gutierrez feels vindicated.

“We all did something, and we did not stop until this situation was done in the right way,” Gutierrez told The Post. “I’m thinking about [the] other victims right now, that they finally got justice for what they went through.”
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