Content advisory: This article mentions sexual assault. Please take care while reading.
In Dec. 2023, actor Vin Diesel was accused by a former assistant of sexual battery and creating a hostile work environment in a civil suit filed in a Los Angeles court — but has Diesel been linked to anything like that before?
According to CNN, Diesel’s 2023 allegations date from 2010, when The Fast & the Furious star’s former assistant, Asta Jonasson, said Diesel sexually assaulted her, but she escaped. According to Jonasson, she was terminated from her job after the alleged assault took place. Also named in the civil suit are Diesel’s company, One Race Productions, and Diesel’s sister, Samantha Vincent, who reportedly fired Jonasson after the assault happened.
In addition to sexual battery and creating a hostile work environment, Jonasson’s suit lists negligent supervision and wrongful termination. Jonasson was also propositioned by another One Race Productions supervisor while working for the company, her suit said.
Through his attorney, Diesel denied Jonasson’s allegations. Jonasson seeks a $10,000 civil penalty for each claim made in the suit and other unspecified punitive damages.
Does Vin Diesel have a criminal record?
Before Asta Jonasson’s civil suit, Vin Diesel had no criminal record, nor had he been publicly accused of sexual assault, battery, or harassment. In 2015, Elite Daily reported that Diesel’s only known near run-in with the law happened when he was a teenager, when Diesel and a group of friends broke into a theater to vandalize the space. A play director caught the young men, gave them a script, and cast them in a show, a moment Diesel credits with launching his acting career.
According to Jonasson, she didn’t report the incident in 2010 because she had signed a non-disclosure agreement with Diesel’s company when she was hired. Jonasson’s civil suit comes within the one-year window in California allowing sexual assault cases to be tried after the statute of limitations has expired, part of California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act legislation passed in 2022, according to Variety. Notably, for a suit like Jonasson’s suit to be considered under the law, the defendant must have tried to suppress or cover up similar allegations in the past.
In response to Jonasson’s civil suit, Bryan Freedman, Diesel’s attorney, said in a statement, “Vin Diesel categorically denies this claim in its entirety. 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.”
In a statement, Jonasson’s attorney told CNN, “No one is too famous or powerful to evade justice … We hope [Jonasson’s] courageous decision to come forward helps create lasting change and empowers other survivors.”
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.