Vin Diesel accused of sexual assault by former assistant in lawsuit
Topics: News, Celebrity, Fast and Furious, Vin Diesel
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images / Kym Illman/Getty Images
Topics: News, Celebrity, Fast and Furious, Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual assault in a new lawsuit.
The Fast and Furious actor has been named in a lawsuit by his former assistant, Asta Jonasson.
Jonasson was hired by Diesel's firm One Race to work for him on location in Atlanta while he filmed the fifth instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast Five.
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Jonasson was a recent film-school-program graduate at the time, and her responsibilities working for Diesel (real name Mark Sinclair) included organizing parties and accompanying Diesel to parties, writes Vanity Fair.
The alleged assault is said to have occurred 2010 at the St. Regis hotel.
As per the suit, when the pair were alone, Diesel 'grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed' in one of the hotel's rooms.
She asked the actor, now 56, to stop and managed to escape his grasp. Jonasson then stood by the front door of the suite and waited for him to leave.
But Diesel continued to pursue Jonasson, she claims. Despite her pleas, he's said to have groped her breasts and kissed her chest.
The suit continues: "Ms. Jonasson was afraid to more forcibly refuse her supervisor, knowing that getting him out of that room was both crucial to her personal safety and job security.
"But this hope died when Vin Diesel dropped to his knees, pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body, running his hands over Ms. Jonasson’s upper legs, including her inner thighs."
Diesel's former assistant further alleges that the actor attempted to pull her underwear down, sparking her to run down the hallway to the bathroom.
She further claims that Diesel then placed her hand on his erect penis despite her ongoing pleas to stop.
Jonasson had only worked in the role for two weeks, and the day after the alleged assault she received a call from Diesel's sister, the president of One Race, Samantha Vincent, to terminate her employment.
The suit goes on to accuse the The Last Witch Hunter star as having used Jonasson 'to fulfill his sexual desires'.
At the time of starting her employment One Race, Jonasson says she signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), meaning she wasn't able to voice her experience.
But California’s AB2777 temporarily waives statutes of limitations for sexual abuse allegations occurring in 2009 or later.
Elsewhere, the Speak Out Act prevents the enforcement of NDAs in instances of sexual assault and harassment.
The bill was signed into law in December 2022 by President Biden, meaning Jonasson was able to file the lawsuit against Diesel after the alleged 2010 incident.
UNILAD has contacted Diesel's legal representatives for comment.