‘God’ faces up to 29 years
WEINSTEIN CONVICTED: GUILTY OF RAPE AND CRIMINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT
His story may not be over as he plans to appeal and faces case in LA.
For decades, Harvey Weinstein was untouchable, reigning over Hollywood as the mega producer Meryl Streep famously called “God”. On Monday he became a convicted rapist facing up to 29 years in prison.
The producer with a knack for making Oscar-winning movies was taken into custody after a New York jury found him guilty of rape and a criminal sex act.
It capped a sensational downfall for Weinstein, 67, almost three years after allegations against him ignited the #MeToo movement, made him a pariah and ended his career. Nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, have come forward alleging 40 years of vile predatory behaviour by Weinstein.
The accusations, first made in The New York Times and New Yorker in October 2017, sparked a sexual harassment watershed that ended the careers of several powerful men as tens of thousands of women shared their stories of abuse online under the #MeToo hashtag. Weinstein was expelled from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.
The one-time Democratic Party donor, who hobnobbed with Hillary Clinton, disappeared from public life, surfacing occasionally from reported sex addiction treatment, his name toxic and his reputation in tatters.
Then on 25 May, 2018, he was charged with predatory sexual assault. Images of him handcuffed went around the world.
Weinstein maintained all his sexual relationships were consensual, but he was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and of raping ex-actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
The 12 jurors cleared him of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault, which carried a possible life sentence. Weinstein was ashen-faced as he was led away from the court on Monday.
Weinstein sparked an outcry just before the trial began when he expressed no remorse in an interview with The New York Post, complaining the world had forgotten how he “pioneered” women-led films.
The Weinstein Company was declared bankrupt last year under an avalanche of lawsuits related to sexual misconduct claims. But his story may not be over as he plans to appeal and faces a separate case in Los Angeles. – AFP