The #Metoo accountability push continues with the Harvey Weinstein conviction on Wednesday in a New York City retrial on one charge of committing a criminal sexual act.
The former Hollywood studio head, who has also been convicted of rape in a California court, was acquitted on a second charge. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on a third charge and have been told to continue their deliberations.
Wednesday’s partial verdict is a major milestone in the ongoing push for legal accountability for Weinstein. In the fall of 2017, news of long-standing and rampant sexual misconduct perpetrated by the one-time influential studio head broke in a series of stories reported by both The New Yorker and The New York Times, spurring a new wave of attention to the #MeToo movement.
The one guilty conviction Wednesday came in relation to accusations made by Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on the reality television show, “Project Runway,” who alleged that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in his home in downtown New York City in 2006. She also accused Weinstein of raping her in a hotel room in New York City weeks later.
Haley’s testimony during the retrial garnered media attention as a result of an exchange she had with Weinstein’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, during cross-examination. Bonjean repeatedly asked Haley about what she was wearing when she was assaulted by Weinstein and whether she had been the one to remove her clothing when with him. Haley cried on the stand, at one point shouting, “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f––ing a––hole!” In testimony days later, she repeatedly insisted that Weinstein was the one who had been the perpetrator of all sexual activity, detailing that he was the one who had removed her clothing, had removed her tampon and had placed his mouth on her genitals.
It was the second time Haley had to recount these details in a courtroom. Weinstein first faced criminal trial in New York City in 2020 and was found guilty on two charges and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He was serving that sentence when those convictions were overturned in April 2024 after a judge ruled that the choice of prosecutors to allow for testimony by women who claimed they had been assaulted by Weinstein — but who were not part of the suit against him — was in fact inadmissible and prejudicial.
At the retrial, which began April 23, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year sentence related to his 2022 conviction for rape after a trial in Los Angeles.
The #MeToo movement has faced increasing and coordinated backlash, which has picked up following President Donald Trump’s return to office. Haley, for example, was one of the subjects of a recent podcast series by far-right wing influencer Candace Owens, during which Owens alleged that Weinstein was innocent and had been framed.
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