Philippine Showbiz Today Vol 12 No 20 | Page 5

Philippine Showbiz Today October 22 - November 7, 2017 Jan. 22-Feb.7, 2015 Pinay model in raging Weinstein Hollywood sex scandal Her Facebook fan page de- scribes her as a mix of different nationalities: Filipino, Italian, Spanish and Greek. Meet Ambra Battilana Gutier- rez, the Filipino Italian model who had accused American film exec- utive Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Weinstein was a high-profile producer and executive, and now facing several allegations of sex- ual assault and harassment from women, including some of the biggest names in Hollywood. In October 2017, following numerous allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against him, Weinstein was fired by his company’s board of direc- tors, and expelled from the Acad- emy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The New York Times earlier ran a story about detailed allega- tions of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact with women going back decades, and at least eight separate settle- ments. The roster of on-the-re- cord quotes included actress Ashley Judd. Back to Gutierrez, the model was also instrumental in the con- viction of three people for “induc- ing” young women to become “prostitutes” for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Gutierrez had accused Wein- stein of groping her breasts in 2015. She also accused the ex- studio head of trying to put his hand up her skirt. She was among the many women who accused the film executive of sexual as- sault. According to the New Yorker article, the former Miss Italy con- testant met Weinstein in the show “New York Spring Spectacular” that he produced in New York in 2015. Following that first meeting, then 22-year-old Gutierrez met Weinstein at his Tribeca office for a business meeting that turned