Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases

Shortly after, he was dismissed from The Weinstein Company (TWC), expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other professional associations, and retired from public view.

[1] In 2020, he was found guilty of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act,[2] and sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment,[3] but that conviction was overturned on appeal in 2024 because of procedural errors.

It also led a great number of women to share their own experiences of sexual assault, harassment, or rape on social media under the hashtag #MeToo.

[18] Rumors of Harvey Weinstein's "casting couch" practices (soliciting sexual favors from a job applicant in exchange for employment) circulated in Hollywood for years, and entertainment figures at times alluded to them.

While announcing the 2013 nominees for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, Seth MacFarlane joked: "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.

[26] The woman, Italian model Ambra Gutierrez, cooperated with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to obtain an audio recording where Weinstein admitted to having inappropriately touched her.

[30] In July 2018, after many allegations and criminal charges of sexual misconduct, Greek journalist Taki Theodoracopulos said to The Spectator that his friend Weinstein told him in an interview, "Yes, I did offer them [girls] acting jobs in exchange for sex, but so did and still does everyone.

[33] Substantial allegations of sexual misconduct by Weinstein were first reported by The New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey on October 5, 2017.

The story accused Weinstein of three decades of sexually harassing and paying eight settlements to actresses and female production assistants, temps, and other employees who worked at Miramax and TWC.

[35] Five days later, on October 10, longtime NBC News correspondent Ronan Farrow reported in The New Yorker further allegations that Weinstein had sexually assaulted or harassed thirteen women and raped three.

[42] According to the women's reports, Weinstein invited young actresses or models into a hotel room or office on the pretext of discussing their career, and then he demanded massages or sex.

[24] Former colleagues and collaborators of Weinstein told reporters that these activities were enabled by employees, associates and agents who set up these meetings, as well as lawyers and publicists who suppressed complaints with payments and threats.

[9] During the July 9, 2024 court appearance, it was revealed that prosecutors were investigationing whether or not to bring additional criminal charges against Weinstein for other sex abuse allegations.

Mr. Weinstein is hoping that if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.Subsequent reports and accusations of rape were likewise met with the response that "any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr.

"[147] Writers from The Michigan Daily and Quartz described Weinstein's defense as gaslighting for orchestrating extraordinary efforts to undermine the perceptions and reality of women he sexually preyed upon, the journalists investigating their stories, and the public.

[151][152] Weinstein granted interviews to the New York Post to tout his contributions to society including helping women advance in Hollywood and his work on a charity concert that raised $100 million for the 9/11 first responders through the Robin Hood Foundation.

[168] On June 2, 2022, a unanimous five-judge panel of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Judicial Department rejected Weinstein's appeal against his sentence.

[4] The Court of Appeals said the trial judge had made "egregious errors" by admitting the testimony of other alleged victims of Weinstein's about acts for which he was not charged, as prohibited by People v. Molineux (1901).

[173] On July 19, 2024, a court hearing was held where Judge Curtis Farber ruled that Weinstein would be retried and tentatively set for the retrial to start on November 12, 2024.

[179][180] On April 12, 2021, Weinstein was formally indicted on eleven counts of sexual assault in Los Angeles County; this was a procedural matter allowing the trial to proceed more quickly.

[191] On April 30, 2018, Ashley Judd sued Weinstein for allegedly making false statements about her after she rejected his sexual requests, which damaged her career and cost her a role in a Lord of the Rings movie.

[193][194][195] Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected the settlement in July 2020, criticizing several of the terms including that "Harvey Weinstein can get a defense fund ahead of the claimants is obnoxious".

They triggered a public discussion about, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) put it, "willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment" in the film industry.

[216] Several politicians Weinstein had supported gave his donations to charities, including Democratic Senators Al Franken,[217] Patrick Leahy, and Martin Heinrich.

Compounded by other sexual harassment cases earlier in the year, the Weinstein reports and the subsequent "#MeToo" hashtag campaign, which encouraged individuals to share their suppressed stories of sexual misconduct, created a cavalcade of allegations across multiple industries that brought about the swift ousting of many men in positions of power both in the United States and, as it spread, around the world.

[229] In April 2018, The New York Times and The New Yorker were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for their coverage of the sexual abuse of women in Hollywood and other industries around the world".

[235] In 2019, the documentary Untouchable was released, featuring interviews from several of Weinstein's accusers, including Rosanna Arquette and Paz de la Huerta.

[236] On September 10, 2019, a nonfiction book written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey called She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement was published, which follows the process of their investigation, both behind the scenes and in public.

[237] In North America, Canadian comedy festival founder Gilbert Rozon resigned and over a dozen individuals accused Quebec television host and producer Éric Salvail of sexual misconduct.

The French daily newspaper Le Monde published in November 2017 two articles on alleged sexual harassment and predation supported by former UNEF presidents, Jean-Baptiste Prévost and Emmanuel Zemmour.