Movie giant convicted
Weinstein’s guilty verdict for rape is #MeToo victory
Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein was receiving medical attention for chest pain at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan yesterday, his spokesman said, a day after a New York jury convicted him of sexual assault and rape in a stunning victory for the #MeToo movement.
Once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, Weinstein, 67, was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013.
More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault, and Weinstein has denied all of the accusations and said any sexual encounters were consensual.
The allegations helped fuel the #MeToo movement on social media in 2017, which inspired more women to publicly accuse other powerful men of misconduct.
Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Weinstein, said on Monday that the onetime movie mogul was taken to Bellevue Hospital, which has a unit that provides medical care for jail inmates, after he was led away from court in handcuffs.
If not for his medical concerns, the former producer would have gone to New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. Weinstein remained in the hospital yesterday as a “precautionary measure” because he had complained of chest pain, and he was expecting a visit from his legal team later in the day, Engelmayer said.
After the verdict on Monday, Arthur Aidala, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, quoted his client as saying: “I’m innocent. How can this happen in America?”
His sentencing hearing was set for March 11. The attorney vowed to appeal.
Weinstein, who produced acclaimed films like The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love, faces up to 25 years in prison for sexual assault .