'Jane Doe No. 4' in New Weinstein Trial Is Known Name

Harvey Weinstein's trial kicked off Monday in Los Angeles, with the disgraced movie producer facing down 11 counts of sexual assault spurred by allegations from five women, in incidents said to have taken place between 2004 and 2013. One of those women, who will testify as "Jane Doe No. 4," has now been IDed, and it's a familiar name in the Golden State: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary filmmaker, former actress, and wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom. A source confirms to BuzzFeed that Siebel Newsom, 48, is indeed No. 4—all of the women testifying will be referred to as Jane Does, or by their first name and last initial, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office tells the Los Angeles Times—and that she'll be accusing the 70-year-old of incidents that took place between 2004 and 2005 and included forcible oral copulation and forcible rape.

The Times backs up BuzzFeed's claim that Siebel Newsom is "Jane Doe No. 4," noting that multiple sources say she's referred to as such in court documents. "Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap," Siebel Newsom's attorney, Elizabeth Fegan, said in a statement. "She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life's work to improve the lives of women." In addition to the five accusers, four other women will testify as witnesses who say they had their own bad experiences with Weinstein. When allegations against him first started surfacing in 2017, Siebel Newsom penned an essay for HuffPost accusing Weinstein, whom she described as "extremely powerful and intimidating," of abusing her.

"I can tell you that I believe every single word that was written in the extremely disturbing, but not all that shocking, New York Times piece published yesterday," Siebel Newsom wrote at the time, referencing the NYT article that broke the Weinstein dam open. "Not all that shocking because very similar things happened to me." Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being found guilty in 2020 on charges of rape and sexual assault. If he's found guilty in this trial, he could see another 135-years-to-life sentence tacked on. After jury selection is complete, opening statements are set to commence on Oct. 24. He has pleaded not guilty to the new charges, claiming all encounters with his accusers were consensual. Much more here. (More Harvey Weinstein stories.)