Kaja Sokola
Kaja Sokola
Kaja Funez Sokola (born May 4, 1986) is a psychologist and writer from Warsaw, Poland who specializes in addiction and co-addiction psychotherapy. She is a former teen model who filed a lawsuit against American film producer Harvey Weinstein accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was only 16 years old. [1]
Personal Life
Kaja grew up in Warsaw, Poland and lived, as she puts it, out of suitcases for quite a long time. After settling in the United States, she shuffled back and forth from New York to Los Angeles for various modeling gigs and to attend acting school. [2]
She is a huge animal supporter and lover of poetry. Her Facebook profile displays a quote from Sylvia Plath: "and so it seems I must always write you letters that I can never send." [5]
Kaja is married and has a child but keeps the details of her personal life secret.
Education
Kaja Sokola attended Szkola wyzsza psychologii spolecznej (High School Of Social Psychology) and obtained a degree in Clinical Psychology. She also attended the Ivana Chubbuck Studio for acting in Los Angeles.
Career
Kaja modeled as a young teenager, working with luxurious campaigns for LaPerla, Shisheido, Pinko and high level fashion houses and agencies around Los Angeles and New York City. She decided to pursue a different path, returned to Poland and became a clinical pyschologist. Now, she practices addiction and co-addiction psychotherapy with a special focus on Gestalt and Existential psychotherapy. She often writes about topics like eating disorders and cardiac neurosis. [3][4]
"as an addiction therapist from the philosophy of AA, I took the decision [which] means “I will worry about what [happens] today, and tomorrow I will worry about what [happens] tomorrow.”
etc. In this way, with everything that surpasses me, I try to cope on a regular basis, facing the “dragons” right away.
Focusing all your attention on one specific problem, separating frustrating days and hours into individual worries, trying to clarify what really disturbs me and distracts me most…Stand firmly on the ground and be light on the soul – these are my values, these are the goals"
Shana wrote and acted in a short drama film called Biting Into Big Apple where a woman takes a journey to New York City and fantasy blends with reality. She also wrote and acted in a short drama called 9 Lives Before Another One. [7]
Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein
Sokola allegedly met Harvey Weinstein at a modeling event in 2002 when she was 16 years old. Weinstein asked her to lunch when he learned she was interested in acting. He then took her back to his apartment in New York and forced her to massage his penis. When she refused, he blocked her from exiting the apartment and threatened that denying him sex would ruin her chances of making it in Hollywood. [6]
Sokola first showed up as a Jane Doe in a 2017 legal claim against Weinstein.
It wasn't until early December of 2019 when a $25 million settlement was in the works with accusers that Kaja came forward and filed her own case under New York's Child Victims Act. She wrote the following statement accusing him of squashing her dreams of working in the entertainment industry: [6]
"At the point when I was 16 years of age, I came to New York from Poland to fill in as a model and to attempt to turn into an on-screen character, which had been my youth dream.
Not long after I landed in New York, I was explicitly mishandled by Harvey Weinstein.
I have been living with the injury of that day from that point onward.
I initially recorded my case under a pen name some portion of a class activity against Harvey Weinstein, his organizations, and partners.
In any case, I can’t acknowledge the proposed “worldwide settlement” as reasonable or just.
There is no responsibility for the culprits, deficient remuneration for the entirety of the people in question, and a large number of dollars going to individuals that I accept empowered Weinstein.
In this manner, today I am recording my very own case, in my very own name, under New York’s Child Victims Act, against Harvey Weinstein and a portion of his empowering agents, including Robert Weinstein, Miramax, and Disney, every one of whom could have — and ought to have — halted Harvey Weinstein before he made me another of his unfortunate casualties"
The whole experience left Kaja feeling despondent about her life choices and caused her to become deeply depressed and anorexic. Her claims also extends to Disney and Miramax, including Harvey's brother, Bob Weinstein. She asserts that they knew about his behavior and failed to address it, ultimately enabling him. [6]
Kaja recognizes Harvey Weinstein's unwanted advances as the only thing that kept her from wanting to pursue acting and modeling: [9]
"I have long since moved on from modeling and, because of Harvey Weinstein, gave up on my dreams of acting.
I have learned that some wounds never fully heal.
Memories of sexual abuse are like a scar after a burn, but because the injury is to the psyche, it is invisible to everyone except the victim.
By revealing my own scar, I hope to encourage others to speak up about their own experiences."