Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery by his former assistant who claims he assaulted her in a Georgia hotel in 2010 when Fast Five was filming.
In a lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Asta Jonasson alleges the Fast & Furious star pinned her to a wall where he groped and masturbated in front of her. The complaint names Diesel’s One Race Films, which allegedly fired Jonasson in retaliation for resisting his advances and to have the “assault covered up.”
In a statement, Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Diesel, said his client “categorically denies this claim in its entirety.” The statement added, “This is the first he has ever heard about this more than 13-year-old claim made by a purportedly 9-day employee. There is clear evidence which completely refutes these outlandish allegations.”
Jonasson, who signed a nondisclosure agreement preventing her from discussing anything related to Diesel, attributes the filing of her suit to legislation barring enforcement of such contracts in certain instances and a California law reviving the statute of limitations for sexual misconduct claims until 2026. Over the past year, plaintiffs have been taking advantage of a similar law in New York, the Adult Survivor’s Act, to sue major figures in the entertainment industry, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie Foxx and Neil Portnow. Companies owned by the accused have also been named in several suits for allegedly facilitating the assaults or negligently failing to oversee their directors and employees.
The complaint alleges a violent encounter at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta with Diesel in September 2010.
Jonasson, whose responsibilities included organizing and accompanying Diesel to parties to ensure no photographs of him were taken, says she was asked to wait in the actor’s suite while he entertained other guests. Once they left, the suit claims he “grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed.” She says she “immediately tried to escape his grasp,” at which point she left the bedroom.
According to the complaint, Jonasson was followed by Diesel, who “dropped to his knees, pushed Ms. Jonasson’s dress up toward her waist, and molested her body” after he restrained her.
The suit continues, “Vin Diesel moved to pull Ms. Jonasson’s underwear down. At that moment, Ms. Jonasson screamed, and in a panic, ran down the hallway towards the bathroom, knocking Vin Diesel to the floor.”
After he stood up, the suit alleges that the actor “pinned her to the wall with the left side of his body, and again began to grope Ms. Jonasson’s body, including her breasts.” Diesel then “pulled his penis out of his underwear” and began to masturbate, per the complaint.
“Ms. Jonasson heard Vin Diesel make groaning noises, then Vin Diesel quickly released her, went into the bathroom, and turned the sink on with the bathroom door open,” the complaint reads.
Hours later, Samantha Vincent — president of One Race and Diesel’s sister — terminated her, per the complaint. She allegedly told her in a call that the company didn’t need “any extra help” despite having the job for less than two weeks.
“The message was clear. Ms. Jonasson was fired for courageously resisting Vin Diesel’s sexual assault, Vin Diesel would be protected, and his sexual assault covered up,” states the suit, which notes that she “previously received praise for her work.”
According to the complaint, another One Race supervisor propositioned her days before the alleged assault. She was allegedly summoned to his room where he took off his shirt, got into bed and said “Come here,” at which point she left.
Jonasson brings claims for sexual battery, gender-based discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation, among others. She seeks unspecified damages for “humiliation, emotional distress and mental and physical pain.” Vanity Fair first reported the suit.
“Empowered by the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, and with the protection of the Speak Out Act and recent revival of her claims by AB2777, Ms. Jonasson is unwilling to remain silent any longer and seeks to reclaim her agency and justice for the suffering she endured at the hands of Vin Diesel and One Race,” the suit states.
Diesel does not have any projects in production, but he and One Race are attached to produce an untitled Fast and Furious movie starring Dwayne Johnson. That film does not yet have a director nor a start date, but it is expected to be the next Fast movie to hit theaters, to be followed by Fast XI, which would star Diesel and be a swan song for his character. He is also attached to a number of other projects, though it is unclear which will make it out of the development phase. Those include a new Riddick feature and a Mattel Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie from Universal.
Diesel starred as Groot in this year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and reprised his role of Dominic Toretto for Fast X.
Dec. 21, 5:20 p.m. Updated with a statement from Diesel.