The rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein

He’s just been sentenced to 23 years in prison. Here’s how Harvey Weinstein went from Hollywood power-player to convicted rapist. (via Brut News)

Trigger warning: rape mention


Starting in October 2017, more than 80 women, famous and anonymous, have accused the producer of sexual harassment, sexual assault or rape. Salma Hayek, Uma Thurman, Ashley Judd, Rosanna Arquette, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, are among those who have spoken out. After the investigations were published, Harvey Weinstein “sincerely apologized” for his behavior with colleagues in a statement, while also denying the accusations of “non-consensual sex,” before retreating to a rehab center.


"I do think he is a symbol of power oppression, more than anything, that we’ve all experienced, so he is a collective face of the man of nightmares, right? … The complicity machine is who I hold even more in judgment than him because there's something wrong in his brain. What is their excuse? But he wasn't protected just by Hollywood, Hollywood deified him. He was their cult leader, and I would know, I grew up in one. I know how that goes,” Rose McGowan, one of the key victims testifying, says in archival footage.


The trials


On May 25, 2018, he appeared before the court and was charged with rape and sexual assault. On February 24, 2020, Harvey Weinstein was convicted for criminal sexual assault in the first degree of his former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, in 2006, and rape in the third degree of the young actress Jessica Mann, in 2013. But the jurors declared the former producer not-guilty of the rape of the actress Annabella Sciorra, which would have triggered the aggravating circumstance of “predatory” sexual behavior. Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers said they planned to appeal the verdict. After a heart operation, the former producer was taken to the infirmary unit of Rikers Island jail on March 5, 2020. As of Wednesday, he has been sentenced to twenty-three years in prison and must register as a sex offender.


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