This Thursday, 21, a former assistant to Vin Diesel filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, alleging that the actor sexually assaulted her during his employment in the fall of 2010, while filming ‘The Fast and Furious 5’. The details were released by Vanity Fair, which had access to the legal documents. Vin Diesel’s representatives chose not to comment on the case.
According to the lawsuit, the assistant had signed a confidentiality agreement before starting to work with the actor, which led her to not report the incident earlier. The suit alleges that, motivated by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, she decided to seek “justice for the suffering she experienced at the hands of Vin Diesel.” The former assistant, identified as Asta Jonasson, claims she was hired by Diesel’s company to work on location in Atlanta, where the film was being produced.
Her job, having recently graduated in cinema, involved organizing events and accompanying Vin Diesel to parties. According to the lawsuit, in September 2010, in a hotel suite, the actor grabbed her wrists and pulled her to the bed. Even after her requests to stop, he continued the assault, touching and kissing her breasts. Asta Jonasson claims to have been afraid to refuse due to Diesel’s superior position and describes how he pinned her against the wall, continuing the sexual abuse.
The lawsuit reports that, after the incident, Samantha Vincent, Diesel’s sister and president of One Race (the company that hired Asta), called to terminate her former assistant’s contract. Despite what happened, Jonasson continued her career in the entertainment industry, performing roles as an assistant and production coordinator.