Brit Marling is latest actress to accuse Harvey Weinstein of assault

Actress Brit Marling is the latest woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The OA star has recounted her terrifying experience in a new essay for The Atlantic, which was published on Monday (23Oct17), and her recollections mirror the stories told by more than 40 other women, who have also accused Weinstein of inappropriate behaviour, assault and rape.

“I, too, went to the meeting (with Weinstein) thinking that perhaps my entire life was about to change for the better,” she shared in her The Atlantic piece. “I, too, was asked to meet him in a hotel bar. I, too, met a young, female assistant there who said the meeting had been moved upstairs to his suite because he was a very busy man. I, too, felt my guard go up but was calmed by the presence of another woman my age beside me."

Also in common with other accusers, Brit recalls that the female assistant soon disappeared and she was left alone in the room with Weinstein, prompting her to feel "terror in the pit of my stomach". She claims the producer asked her if she wanted a massage, before suggesting "we shower together".

"What could I do?," she continued. "How not to offend this man, this gatekeeper, who could anoint or destroy me?”

Brit insists he was looking for "sex or some version of an erotic exchange" but she managed to escape from the room before things escalated, and burst into tears.

"I wept because I had gone up (in) the elevator when I knew better,” she added. “I wept because I had let him touch my shoulders."

Weinstein is now the subject of investigations by police officials in both Los Angeles and London, and on Monday, New York's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced he is opening a civil rights investigation to determine whether employees of The Weinstein Company were also subjected to discrimination or harassment.

The disgraced ex-company chief is currently receiving psychological counselling at a treatment facility in Arizona.