Notorious movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape in a California trial.
The 70-year-old predator went on trial in Los Angeles charged with raping and sexually assaulting two women and sexually assaulting two others.
A jury found him guilty of raping one woman but not guilty of sexually assaulting another.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on multiple counts, including charges involving California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and another woman, and declared a mistrial on those counts .
In addition to being convicted of rape, Weinstein Convicted of forced oral sex and sexual assault with a foreign object involving an Italian model and actor who he said showed up uninvited in her hotel room during the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival.
Weinstein appeared to bury his face in his hands as the initial guilty charges were read, then looked forward as the rest of the verdict was read.
When he is sentenced, he faces up to 24 years in prison.
“Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will live out the rest of his life where he belongs,” Ms. Siebel Newsom said in a statement.
“Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s attorneys used sexism, misogyny, and bullying to intimidate, belittle, and mock our survivors. The trial is a stark reminder that, as a society, we still have a lot of work to do .”
Filmmaker has served 23 years in prison
The Oscar-winning filmmaker has Sent 23 years for rape and sexual assault being being Convicted in landmark court case In New York in 2020, this is seen as #Me too move.
However, earlier this year, he leave to appeal.
So the month-long Los Angeles trial, widely seen as emblematic, takes on even greater significance.
In closing arguments, prosecutors urge jurors to finish Weinstein statement Fallen from grace, thinking it’s time to end his “reign of terror”.
In turn, his lawyers argued that the four women were not worthy of trust.
Alan Jackson argued that the story of Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulting two women on consecutive days in 2013 “simply didn’t happen.”
He also said Weinstein’s alleged rapes and assaults on two other women in 2005 and 2010 were “100 percent consensual” encounters by women for professional advancement.
The Birth of the #MeToo Movement
Once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, whose films include “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction,” “The English Patient” and “Gangs of New York,” Weinstein had the power to make and break film careers .
But in October 2017, he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, amid reports in The New York Times and The New Yorker. He was also accused of reaching the settlement to keep the story under wraps.
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In the months that followed, dozens more women came forward to accuse Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment going back decades.
He admitted his actions “caused a lot of pain” but always denied all sexual allegations against him.
It was this moment that gave birth to the #MeToo movement, as women came forward to detail incidents involving powerful figures in the entertainment industry and beyond.
New York Times reporter’s exposé of Weinstein’s Pulitzer win now out made into a movieShe Said, starring Carey Mulligan.