Steve Wynn Rape Accuser Has Credibility Issues, But Judge Dismisses Billionaire’s Defamation Lawsuit

Posted on: August 16, 2018, 07:08h. 

Last updated on: August 16, 2018, 07:08h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

A woman who claims Steve Wynn raped her in either 1973 or 1974 and gave birth to his daughter in a gas station restroom provided an extraordinary sworn statement to law enforcement when she made the allegations in February.

Steve Wynn rape lawsuit
The AP did no wrong in reporting on a woman’s claims who said Steve Wynn raped her in the early 1970s, despite her story posing severe credibility concerns. (Image: Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg)

Halina Kuta says in the affidavit that she bore not one, but multiple children, with the casino mogul, and was actually married to him for some time. But she told Metro Police she couldn’t recall the children’s names or when they were born.

Perhaps most bizarre, Kuta says she was the model for Pablo Picasso’s “Le Reve,” the artist’s 1932 masterpiece portraying his 22-year-old mistress. The only problem, and it’s a big one, is that Kuta wasn’t alive in 1932.

Kuta said in the affidavit that she’s 71 (b. 1947) and lives in Laguna Vista, Texas. She claims she wed Wynn in Poland in 1963.

The Associated Press was first to report Kuta’s claims against Wynn in February, roughly a month after The Wall Street Journal released its bombshell expose detailing decades of alleged sexual harassment and misconduct by the Las Vegas billionaire.

Wynn continues to deny the numerous allegations made against him. He credits his ex-wife Elaine for orchestrating the accusations. “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” Wynn told the WSJ in January.

Case Dismissed

Wynn sued the AP in April for reporting Kuta’s rape claims. His lawyers argued that the news service “intentionally chose to incompletely and unfairly describe the Police Report by omitting … additional outrageous, false and inherently improbable accusations.”

The AP story detailed Kuta’s claims that she was raped and gave birth to Wynn’s daughter. It didn’t mention her allegations that she was also married to Wynn, had other children with him, or the Picasso story.

Regardless, Las Vegas District Judge Ron Israel dismissed Wynn’s defamation lawsuit against the AP this week on grounds that the news service’s reporting was fair. He said the story was “clearly a public interest at the time, and maybe still.”

Wynn still has an ongoing lawsuit against Kuta. She is representing herself in the defamation case.

The Legend Continues

Talking with the AP earlier this month, Kuta attempted to explain her bizarre statements in the affidavit.

You keep asking do I remember the dates and I can’t remember,” she stated. “I don’t remember everything. My brain don’t work as good as it should.”

In a lawsuit filed in 2017, Kuta claimed she is the mother of 51-year-old Kevyn Wynn, not Elaine. Kuta alleges the billionaire orchestrated her daughter’s kidnapping in 1993, and the two haven’t been in touch since. Considering Kevyn would have been 26-years-old at the time, Kuta’s story again presents numerous credibility issues.

That lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year. US Magistrate Judge Carol Hoffman described Kuta’s allegations “incoherent, describing a clearly fanciful or delusional scenario.”