Vin Diesel faces sexual battery claims from former assistant

Vin Diesel’s former assistant filed a lawsuit today, claiming that the actor sexually battered her during her employment in 2010.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles, states that Asta Jonasson was hired by Diesel’s company, One Race, to work for the action in Atlanta, where Fast Five was in production.

According to Vanity Fair, here job responsibilities ranged from organising parties, accompanying Diesel to events and ensuring she was in close physical proximity to him to protect him from being photographed with women when in attendance without his girlfriend.

The suit details an incident in September 2010, where Jonasson claims that she asked to wait in Diesel’s suite while he entertained some people he had brought back from a nightclub.

According to Vanity Fair, the lawsuit claims that once the other women were gone, Diesel “grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed.”

She reportedly asked him to stop, escaped and waited for him to leave. The lawsuit then claims that he approached her again, began to grope and kiss her inappropriately, despite her pleading him to stop.

The suit read: “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.”

It continued: “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.”

Then, according to the lawsuit, Diesel attempted to pull down her underwear, chased her down the corridor to the bathroom where he pinned her to a wall and placed her hand on his penis.

He then proceeded to masturbate, with the suit alleging: “Terrified, Ms. Jonasson closed her eyes, trying to disassociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him.”

The suit then claimed that hours later, Jonasson’s employment was terminated after less than two weeks in the role.

“It was clear to her that she was being fired because she was no longer useful—Vin Diesel had used her to fulfill his sexual desires and she had resisted his sexual assaults,” read the lawsuit.

It also added that Jonasson’s “esteem was demolished, and she questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement.”

NME has reached out to Diesel’s team for comment.

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