Vin Diesel’s Former Assistant Accuses Him Of Sexual Battery

On Thursday, Vin Diesel was accused of sexual battery by his former assistant, Asta Jonasson, in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

“For years, Ms. Jonasson remained silent, afraid to speak out against one of the world’s highest-grossing actors, afraid she would be ostracized from the industry which had a pattern of protecting powerful men and silencing survivors of sexual harassment and assault,” the suit states, noting that Jonasson signed a nondisclosure agreement when she was hired.

The incident at the center of the filing is alleged to have occurred in September 2010, after Jonasson was hired by Diesel’s production company, One Race, to assist the actor who was then filming Fast Five. One night, after Diesel allegedly invited hostesses from a club he’d gone to back to his hotel suite at the St. Regis, Jonasson was told to remain in the suite. The suit then states that Diesel “grabbed Ms. Jonasson’s wrists, one with each of his hands, and pulled her onto the bed.”

Though Jonasson allegedly told Diesel to stop and was able to move toward the door, the suit states that he once again advanced on her. “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,” the filing claims. “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.”

Diesel then moved to remove Jonasson’s underwear despite her repeated pleas to stop, according to the suit. He’s then alleged to have pinned her to the wall and masturbated in front of her as she “closed her eyes, trying to dissociate from the sexual assault and avoid angering him.”

Hours later, the suit states, Jonasson was terminated by Diesel’s sister, Samantha, the president of One Race. Jonasson had only been employed by the company for two weeks.

“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,” the filing states, continuing that Jonasson’s “self-esteem was demolished, and she questioned her own skills and whether a successful career would require her to trade her body for advancement.”

After years of acting in accordance with the nondisclosure agreement, Jonasson filed the claims after the passing of the Speak Out Act in 2022. The law bars any enforcement of nondisclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment, and California’s AB2777, which temporarily eliminates statutes of limitations for sexual abuse allegations that took place from 2009 onward.

“Ms. Jonasson is seeking accountability for the harmful and unlawful termination of her employment, which was the result of her resisting a sexual assault from her boss,” Claire-Lise Kutlay, a partner at Greenberg Gross, the firm representing Jonasson, told Jezebel. “Women should not be punished for doing the right thing. And sexual harassment in the workplace will never stop him if men are protected from accountability.”

A representative for Diesel did not immediately respond to Jezebel’s request for comment.