73-year-old producer, Harvey Weinstein’s retrial began on Tuesday, April 15. Weinstein is currently being tried for two charges of sexual assault. He has pleaded “not guilty” on both accounts. This retrial is followed after Weinstein’s sentence given in 2020 was overturned in 2024 over claims of a mistrial. He continues to maintain the stance that both of his sexual encounters were consensual.
Weinstein’s retrial begins today
Weinstein is being put on trial for the rape of former assistant, Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and of actress, Jessica Mann in 2013. Both the victims have testified against the producer in earlier trials giving gruesome details of their encounter with him. The lawyer for another victim of Weinstein shared her admiration for the women for their bravery. She said, “They are going to ensure Weinstein is held accountable for his heinous crimes against women.”
The producer of the Miramax studio, who earlier had an emergency heart surgery in September, entered the courtroom in a wheelchair for the jury selection. According to professionals, the trial is predicted to go on for around 6 weeks.
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Aside from this trial, Weinstein is to spend his remaining years inside a jail cell because of his conviction in another case. He was found guilty of rape in another case whose trial was held in California. He was condemned to 16 years in prison and is yet to begin his jail sentence.
Charges against Weinstein
The allegations against Weinstein initially came to the surface in 2017 and since then around 80 women have accused him of sexual harassment or rape. Italian actress, Asia Argento made a drastic public revelation releasing a list of 100 occurrences of being sexually assaulted by Weinstein. She accused him of raping her 18 times.
According to the public accounts of the victims, the producer initially summoned aspiring actresses and models into his hotel rooms under the cover of giving them an employment opportunity. He then asked them to give in to sexual favors asked by him. Weinstein consistently lied to the young girls saying that the esteemed actress, Gwyneth Paltrow had gone down the same path. Although Paltrow has always denied his claims, he used her as an example to lure girls into his trap.
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During the trial against Weinstein, several other prominent names were highlighted. According to various publications, Weinstein’s friends and lawyers were involved in this fiasco and provided unhealthy support to him in the form of threatening his victims to stay quiet.
He has been convicted of raping at least 3 women: actresses Jessica Mann, Mimi Haleyi, and Italian model, Evgeniya Chernyshova.
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