Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Thursday February 23 to 16 years in prison for rape and sexual assault on a European model in a hotel in Beverly Hills in 2013. He had been found guilty of these crimes on December 19 but his sentence had not been disclosed.
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The 70-year-old former movie ‘king’, producer of award-winning hits like ‘Pulp Fiction’ is already serving a 23-year prison sentence after his 2020 New York conviction for similar charges and appealed .
This second trial for Harvey Weinstein, whose fall in 2017 freed the speech of many women and spawned the #MeToo movement, saw four women testify anonymously against him.
An all-powerful ogre
During several weeks of a bitter and trying hearing, sometimes interrupted by the plaintiffs’ sobs, they accused the former Hollywood titan of having forced them into sex in hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013.
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The prosecution had portrayed Harvey Weinstein as an all-powerful ogre, a “predator” whose stranglehold on Hollywood – the films he produced have received more than 330 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes – has long kept his victims from speaking out for fear of career repercussions.
His lawyers have worked to cast doubt on the word of the four complainants, highlighting in particular the absence of forensic evidence to support their stories.
Damages and interests
The trial ended with a split verdict. Jurors found Harvey Weinstein guilty of all charges brought by the European model. On the other hand, they declared him not guilty concerning those of a second woman, and did not formulate a verdict concerning the allegations made by the other two.
After the criminal conviction of the ex-producer, the model recognized as a victim at the end of the trial filed a complaint in early February in a Los Angeles court, in order to obtain civil damages. Consulted by AFP, this complaint does not specify the amount claimed. She insists on the “physical and mental suffering” caused by rape and sexual assault.
In 2021, a civil agreement had awarded 17 million dollars to several dozen women accusing the former producer, but this woman was not one of them.
Nearly 90 women accuse Harvey Weinstein
Rumors about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior have been circulating in Hollywood for years. The scandal finally broke in 2017, thanks to press investigations compiling multiple accusations, which led to the #MeToo movement.
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Since then, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment, sexual assault or rape.
But the limitation period has been exceeded in many of these cases, some of which date back to 1977. In addition to his legal setbacks in the United States, the ex-producer is also charged in the United Kingdom for sexual assaults which go back to 1996.
