Vin Diesel, the actor known for his roles as Groot in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy and Dominic Toretto in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, has been sued by a former assistant for sexual battery.
Vin Diesel Accused of Sexual Battery
This story contains details of alleged sexual battery that could be upsetting for some readers.
In the lawsuit, obtained by Vanity Fair, plaintiff Asia Jonasson details the alleged incident that happened in the fall of 2010, while Diesel was filming “Fast Five” in Atlanta, Georgia.
According to Jonasson, she was hired by One Race, Diesel’s production company, as an assistant working directly for Diesel. After a night of work, the suit alleges, Diesel sexually assaulted Jonasson in his hotel suite.
Below is a portion of the suit. Reader discretion is advised:
Vin Diesel forcibly grabbed Ms. Jonasson, groped her breasts, and kissed her. Ms. Jonasson struggled continually to break free of his grasp, while repeatedly saying no. Vin Diesel is physically larger and much stronger than Ms. Jonasson, and abused his position of authority as her employer, and was able to easily overpower Ms. Jonasson. Vin Diesel ignored Ms. Jonasson’s clear statements of non-consent to his sexual assaults. Vin Diesel then escalated his assault, groped her body, dropped to his knees and pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up, groped her legs, and attempted to pull down Ms. Jonasson’s underwear.
Terrified for her personal safety, Ms. Jonasson screamed and ran towards the nearby bathroom. Vin Diesel followed Ms. Jonasson, pinned her against the wall with his body, and grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s hand and placed it on his erect penis. Disgusted by being forced to touch his penis, Ms. Jonasson instantaneously withdrew her hand and again verbally refused him. Vin Diesel again ignored Ms. Jonasson’s pleas, and instead pulled his penis out of his underwear and began to masturbate, while leaning against Ms. Jonasson and keeping her pinned to the wall with the left side of his body. Ms. Jonasson was unable to escape and closed her eyes, scared of angering Vin Diesel by rejecting him further and trying to dissociate, wishing the assault would end. Ms. Jonasson then heard groaning noises from Vin Diesel, and he quickly released Ms. Jonasson and went to the bathroom and turned on the sink. Jonasson was frozen in a state of shock and unable to move.
Further on in the lawsuit, Jonasson alleges that hours after the assault, she received a phone call from Samantha Vincent, Diesel’s sister and President of One Race, stating, “One Race no longer needed ‘any extra help,'” and terminated Jonasson’s employment at One Race.
In addition to sexual battery, Jonasson is suing for hostile work environment, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, wrongful termination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others. You can read the full lawsuit, here.
Representatives for Diesel or One Race have yet to comment on the allegations.
Currently, Diesel appears as Dominic Toretto in Fast and Furious – Supercharged, a screen-based attraction at Universal Studios Florida. The same attraction is also part of the World-Famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Source: ComicBook.com
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