Hotel Maid: DSK Was Like 'a Crazy Man'

Nafissatou Diallo speaks out, to 'Newsweek'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 24, 2011 4:17 PM CDT
Hotel Maid Accuser in Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case, Nafissatou Diallo, Speaks Out for First Time to Newsweek
In this July 1, 2011 file photo, former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn listens to proceedings in New York State Supreme court in New York.   (AP Photo/Todd Heisler, Pool, File)

Newsweek offers the most detailed account yet of what allegedly happened in room 2806 of New York's Sofitel hotel on May 14, via an exclusive three-hour interview with Nafissatou Diallo—the maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault. Diallo describes her experience to the magazine in vivid, graphic detail, from the moment she says a naked DSK appeared in the room through the rest of the allegedly violent encounter. Writers Christopher Dickey and John Solomon describe the 32-year-old Guinean as "considerably taller than Strauss-Kahn," with "a sturdy build" and "a womanly, statuesque figure."

She is "not glamorous," with "pitted" light-brown skin and dark hair. She can't read or write and appears to have been taken advantage of by male "friends" in the past; the Sofitel job, where she made $25 an hour plus tips, was "the best she'd ever hoped to have." They note that she cried several times throughout the interview, "and there were moments when the tears seemed forced." Dickey and Solomon write that many elements of her claim are backed up by hospital records, but do note "one inconsistency": In those records she says DSK "said nothing to her during the incident," but Diallo recounted several lines to the writers. Click for the full account, which also delves into Diallo's past both in West Africa and the US. (More Nafissatou Diallo stories.)

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