Breaking: Harvey Weinstein guilty on two charges
Breaking news: Harvey Weinstein was convicted today on the charges of third-degree rape and a criminal sexual act in the first degree. He could get up to 25 years in prison. He was acquitted on the predatory sexual assault charge.
On October 5th, 2017, a New York Times article was published that contained information regarding decades of sexual harassment allegations against former film producer, Harvey Weinstein. Many other women have come forward in order to confront the entertainment mogul.
The plethora of allegations took the internet by storm, in the wake of which Weinstein issued an apology for his harmful behavior throughout the last three decades. Many have recounted instances of sexual harassment, including but not limited to model Cara Delevigne, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Boardwalk Empire star Paz de la Huerta.
Salma Hayek, the Frida actress, shared an instance in 2002 when Weinstein had threatened her for turning him down repeatedly, going as far as to tell her that he will “kill [her], don’t think [he] can’t.”
Once a respected member of the entertainment industry, Weinstein has been removed from the board of directors from The Weinstein Company, despite owning 22% of its stocks, was stripped of his Du Bois medal by Harvard University, and has had his actions condemned by many in the community, including celebrity A-lister Tom Hanks who described Weinstein to BBC as a last name which would go on to be “an identifying moniker for a state of being for which there was a before and an after.”
On February 11, 2018, New York State prosecutors announced the filing of a lawsuit against Weinstein for his allegedly inappropriate behavior and abuse. Within the next couple of months, many more women continued to tell the media their side of the story until eventually on May 25, 2018, Weinstein turned himself into the New York City police department and was eventually charged with rape and several counts of harassment.
Within a day, he was released on bail for $1 million dollars though he was required to wear a GPS tracker and had his passport confiscated. His bail was later increased to $5 million dollars for alleged tampering with the GPS tracker.
Although Weinstein pled not guilty to all three counts of sexual harassment, Weinstein and his former board members tried to reach a tentative settlement of $25 million to be paid to 30 actresses and former employees. The deal was never signed off on.
After five days of deliberation, the jury found Weinstein guilty of the abovementioned charges. Judge James Burke ordered Weinstein to be held in custody until his sentencing hearing on March 11, 2020.
