Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women, was today convicted of of assaulting two of his victims in New York.
After six weeks of testimony, Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley in his New York City apartment in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. But he was acquitted on two counts of predatory sexual assault in connection to Annabella Sciorra's claim he attacked her in her apartment in 1993. Jurors were deadlocked over the weekend on those more serious charges and returned the mixed verdict after 26 hours of deliberation.
Weinstein, who presented himself in court using a walker for the duration of the trial, was surrounded by court officers as the guilty counts were announced and remanded to custody; four felony counts of sexual assault await him in California. Weinstein maintains that the encounters were consensual.
In New York, conviction of a first degree criminal sexual act carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison and a maximum of 25 years. Third degree rape is punishable by 16 months to 4 years imprisonment. Read the rest
The life of reviled Hollywood sex pest and alleged rapist Harvey Weinstein is "ruined".
An attorney for Harvey Weinstein lamented that “his whole life has been ruined” and defended the accused serial sexual abuser and disgraced movie mogul against the more than 70 women — including former employees and Hollywood stars — who have accused him of sexual assault by blaming them instead.
“No matter what happens to Harvey Weinstein, he will pay the biggest price there is. Even if he wins, Gayle, his whole life has been ruined, toppled, damaged,” Donna Rotunno told “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King in an interview that aired Tuesday. “And whether it’s by his own doing or others, that’s the fact. And the fact is that no matter what we do ― and we can walk out of that courtroom with a ‘not guilty’ and walk him out onto those courtroom steps, and he never gets to be Harvey Weinstein ever again.”
Such a shame. Read the rest
Hollywood mogul and widely-accused rapist, bully and blackmailer Harvey Weinstein was charged today with predatory sexual assault on a third victim. Read the rest
From a red carpet interview at the 2005 "Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson": Courtney Love worries for a moment about "libel" and then goes ahead with her warning for young actresses not to accept an invite from Harvey Weinstein to attend a "private party" at the Four Seasons.
If the video embed below doesn't work, here's the TMZ post!
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There's knowing about it, and there's knowing where your bread is buttered, and then there's this. Read the rest
In plain sight, for decades! Though Weinstein's targets were women rather than children, the way power and silence worked for him reminds me of UK entertainer Jimmy Savile, who occupied a similarly dark-yet-obvious position in the firmament of leering celebrity sociopaths. The way everyone knew. The way people would blurt it out in inferences, uncomfortable jokes, and off-kilter quips. The way Letterman fawns ("Thank God for Harvey") when he realizes he just got too close ("I'm fed up with Harvey's behavior"). These interactions now make Paltrow and Letterman, like Seth McFarlane, targets for criticism. But I'm not sure it's fair because it's not as if anyone else was saying anything, and fear was presumably why they didn't say more. Read the rest
