A former assistant to Vin Diesel has accused the actor of sexually molesting her in Atlanta during the filming of Fast Five in 2010 and then firing her in retaliation soon afterward.
The suit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Diesel attacked Asta Jonasson in the St. Regis Hotel after a night of seemingly hard partying with hostesses he’d met at a nearby club.
“Vin Diesel forcibly grabbed Ms. Jonasson, groped her breasts, and kissed her,” says the 10-claim sexual battery, discrimination and retaliation complaint (read the lawsuit against Diesel here). “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.”
It adds, “Vin Diesel ignored Ms. Jonasson’s clear statements of non-consent to his sexual assaults.”
The filing by lawyers from Greenberg Gross adds detail: “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.”
Filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act that lifted statutes of limitations, Jonasson’s suit goes on to graphicly detail how Diesel supposedly “pinned her against the wall with his body, and grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s hand and placed it on his erect penis.” The Guardians of the Galaxy actor then masturbated as he held Jonasson against the hotel wall,” she alleges.
“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,” the complaint says. “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. Vin Diesel then walked past Ms. Jonasson and said, ‘No one can say shit about Asta’ as he left the room.”
A few hours later, still at the hotel and “still processing the immediate aftermath of Vin Diesel’s sexual assault,” Jonasson claims she got a call from Samantha Vincent, the actor’s sister and head of his One Race production company. Vincent stated that One Race no longer needed ‘any extra help’ and terminated Ms. Jonasson’s employment” after just days on the job. “The message was clear,” today’s suit declares. “Ms. Jonasson was fired for courageously resisting Vin Diesel’s sexual assault, Vin Diesel would be protected, and his sexual assault covered up.
“Ms. Jonasson felt helpless, her self-esteem was demolished, and she questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement.”
Film school grad Jonasson also says she was propositioned by another One Race employee before the incident with Diesel.
Clearly, with the 10-picture Fast & Furious franchise having brought in more than $7 billion for Universal since its 2001 debut through this year’s Fast X, there are lucrative stakes at play here for Diesel and the series.
Although no specific figure is cited in the jury trial-seeking complaint, Jonasson is pursuing a variety of damages against Diesel, Vincent and One Race. Among those are “punitive and exemplary damages in an amount sufficient to punish Defendants, and to make an example of and deter Defendants from engaging in such conduct in the future.”
Representatives for the CAA-repped Diesel did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on the suit and the allegations. If and when they do, we will update this post.
News of the Jonasson’s lawsuit was first reported by Vanity Fair.
Vin Diesel’s Ex-Assistant Sues ‘Fast & Furious’ Star For Sexual Battery & Retaliation; Read Full Complaint - Deadline
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