Allegations by dozens of women against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sparked the MeToo movement. He was convicted twice as a sex offender, but now the verdict has been overturned – completely unexpectedly.
The MeToo movement greeted Harvey Weinstein’s harsh sentence for sex crimes in March 2020 with cheers and relief. The former film mogul was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a New York judge for rape and sexual assault. “I think I’m going crazy,” said the movement’s founder, Tarana Burke (50), when she commented on the high sentence. The activist also spoke out on Thursday after an appeals court in New York surprisingly overturned the former film mogul’s historic conviction. Burke said at a press conference that she was deeply saddened for the women affected. But this is not a blow to the movement, but a “wake-up call” to action, she added combatively.
Actress Ashley Judd (56), who first publicly described Weinstein’s abuse with other women in an investigative article in the New York Times in 2017, also called for the fight against sexual violence to continue. Regarding the appeal court’s decision, she said it was “unfair to the victims.” “We still live in our truth. And we know what happened.” The allegations of abuse against Weinstein made by dozens of women sparked the global MeToo movement in 2017.
Close decision
The decision of the seven judges in New York was extremely close at 4:3. The reason for the annulment of the historic verdict is therefore a procedural error: the prosecution also relied on witness statements during the trial that were not part of the prosecution. “We conclude that the trial court erred in admitting testimony about unindicted, alleged prior sexual conduct against individuals other than the plaintiffs in the underlying offenses,” the trial court wrote, finding then-Judge James Burke made serious procedural errors.
Weinstein and his legal team celebrated the spectacular verdict. According to his lawyer Arthur Aidala, Weinstein is “very grateful,” reported the New York Times. The 72-year-old is in a prison in northern New York state. According to Aidala, his client should now be relocated closer to the metropolis. He could come back to court and explain his side of things: “He’s been dying to tell his story from day one.” Aidala emphasized that his team “knew from the beginning that Weinstein did not get a fair trial.”
Will Weinstein be released?
Weinstein is not expected to be released for the time being. In a second criminal trial in Los Angeles, which also involved sex crimes, he was sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison in 2023. But the verdict in New York gives his legal team impetus to also appeal on the US West Coast. Attorney Jennifer Bonjean could file a motion to do so before an appeals court in California as early as mid-May, Variety reported.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office said it was “saddened” by the New York appeals judge’s ruling. In a statement, the authority also expressed confidence that Weinstein’s conviction would be upheld in California. Weinstein would then suffer the “serious consequences of his deplorable behavior.”
At the trial in Los Angeles in December 2022, a jury found Weinstein guilty of three counts of sex crimes, including rape. He was acquitted on one point, but there was no agreement on three other points. The allegations came from four women between 2004 and 2013. Among the plaintiffs was Jennifer Siebel, the current wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Most of the attacks are said to have taken place in hotels in Beverly Hills. “Justice,” Siebel wrote on Twitter after the sentence was announced. “And more work ahead of us.”
New procedure initiated
According to the New York Times, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg must now decide whether to initiate a new case against Weinstein. A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office told The Daily Beast magazine that they would do “everything in our power to retry this case.”
In addition to criminal cases, Weinstein is also facing civil lawsuits. Last October, British actress Julia Ormond (59, “Sabrina”) filed a lawsuit in New York for alleged sex crimes. In it, she claims that Weinstein harassed her at a business meeting in 1995 and, among other things, forced her to perform oral sex. The lawsuit also targets the Walt Disney Company, Miramax and the talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Ormond claims that the film studios and their agents at CAA knew about Weinstein’s repeated attacks on women at the time. But they failed to warn her and protect her from him.
According to Variety, Ormond said in a phone interview that she is coming forward with her story because she believes “systemic change” is still needed. To this end, those who enable misconduct must also be held accountable. In her lawsuit, the actress is demanding undisclosed damages.
“Me too”
Those affected around the world also saw their own experiences reflected in those of the alleged Weinstein victims. They were heard publicly under the slogan “Me too” – with consequences for other influential people who were denounced, fired or indicted. Since 2017, more than 80 women have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault.
The producer’s deep fall was also brought up in the cinema. The film drama “She Said” by Maria Schrader (“Unorthodox”) will celebrate its world premiere in autumn 2022. The German director told the story of New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who, after difficult research, put their Weinstein revelations on paper in 2017. The film shows how the reporters meet intimidated victims, visit Weinstein employees, spar with lawyers, are shadowed, and discuss with superiors whether the story can be published.