Evgeniya Chernyshova, a former model and actor, has spoken publicly for the first time about her violent sexual assault by disgraced Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Chernyshova spoke about her violent encounter with Weinstein in 2013 at the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival and her decision to come forward at the urging of her daughter.

Chernyshova was the first witness called in Weinstein's Los Angeles trial last year 2022. Her testimony persuaded the jury to convict Weinstein on three charges of rape and sexual assault including forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and penetration by foreign object.

Weinstein was sentenced in late February 2023 to a 16-year sentence in California. The sentence will be served consecutively with the 23 years sentence Weinstein is serving in New York.

The former actor had remained anonymous throughout the legal proceedings, known only as Jane Doe 1. Testifying on the day of Weinstein’s sentencing, Chernyshova urged the court to issue the “maximum sentence allowed”, before adding to her comments, “There no prison sentence long enough to erase the damage.”

On February 9, 2023, right before a 10-year statute of limitations was up, Chernyshova filed a civil case against Weinstein seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for sexual battery, false imprisonment, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Tired of Hiding

As is often the case in sexual assault cases, the victim said she blamed herself for the rape happening in the first place. The lonely experience of being a Jane Doe prevented her from connecting with other Harvey Weinstein victims and sharing the facts with friends and acquaintances about what she was living through.

After the rape, the victim battled depression, sometimes drinking heavily to escape the reality of what had happened. She separated from her husband, who has since died. “I was hating myself,” Chernyshova says. “I was thinking all the time, ‘There were a lot of beautiful women and stars there, and he chose you. So it’s you who did something.’”

The details of the victim’s 2013 assault are particularly disturbing, as believed by the jury. When she received a call from the front desk of her hotel that Weinstein was in the lobby, she refused to speak with him. As was often the case, Weinstein was permitted to go upstairs anyway by hotel management.

Banging on the door and shouting loudly in the hallway, the predator producer demanded to be allowed in.

Chernyshova is not the first woman to have opened the door, concerned about the ruckus Weinstein was making. When Weinstein entered the room, Chernyshova said she saw that “something clicked, like a change in his eyes.” She has been very detailed in describing how she became increasingly frightened, even has Weinstein yelled that he did not intend to rape her and why was she so nervous.

Explaining to Weinstein that she was married, had children, and was not interested in him was of no avail.

“He opened his pants, and I became hysterical,” she said. “I was continuing to show my kids’ pictures, to try to convince him that, ‘I have kids, please do not do that.’ But he did what he did. He assaulted me in the bedroom, and then he dragged me to the bathroom and he raped me there.”

You Can Fight the Monster

Chernyshova said that she was tired of hiding and wanted her life back, even though she knows that her life could become more difficult. Today Chernyshova told ABC News in a Feb. 27 interview: “You can stand. You can fight a monster. You can win.”

Today the 43-year-old, Russian-born mother of three owns a floral design business in Beverly Hills called Bottega Bouquet.

More Than 100 Women

The Harvey Weinstein saga began in 2017 following an expose in The New York Times detailing decades of sexual harassment and more aggressive sexual activity by Weinstein, events that often resulted in settlements to victims.