After decades of sexual assault allegations brought down one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and prompted a wave of insinuations against those other powerful people.
Dishonoured documentary filmmaker Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced Thursday to an additional 16 years in prison on one tally of rape and sentenced to two years of sexual assault, bringing his total prison term to 23 years.
A Los Angeles court sentenced Weinstein to 16 years in jail, and in 2020, a court in New York sentenced him to 23 years. Together, these sentences would effectively put Weinstein, who will be 70 years old when he begins serving them, behind bars for the remainder of his life.
After a fashion designer and actress identified only as “Jane Doe #1” testified at Weinstein’s trial that he sexually attacked her in a hotel room during the L.a. Italia Film Fest in February 2013, a Los Angeles judge found the producer guilty of rape as well as sexual assault in December.
Important Information
In Los Angeles, where Weinstein was tried, he was accused of 11 crimes. Three charges linked to Jane Doe No. 1 were upheld, while four pertaining to Jane Doe Ref. 5 were dismissed, he was found not guilty of a felony sexually battery charge involving Jane Doe No. 3, and a miscarriage was declared in the cases involving Jane Doe Nos. 2 and 4.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, now known to be the wife of California Premier Gavin Newsom, testified in November as “Jane Doe No. 4,” claiming that Weinstein assaulted her in a guestroom in 2005 after the two had met at the York Film Fest.
Even up until the time of his sentencing, Weinstein maintained his innocence by calling the case a “setup” and claiming he and Jane Doe No. 1 had never met and that the case was about “money”.
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In two separate cases three years ago, a New York court convicted Weinstein of third degree sexual violence and illegal sex encounter in the first degree, ultimately leading to the a 23-year term.
Actress Jessica Mann and former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haley testified against Weinstein in the New York trial, but four of his other accusers also testified regarding his alleged abuse history.
The charges against Weinstein that were presented in court are only a small subset of the many that have been made against the veteran film producer.
After a 2017 New York Times article detailed Weinstein’s decade of gender discrimination and providing settlements to victims, more than a hundred women have come forward accusing him of sexually assaulting or harassing them, with many claiming he promised them job progress in exchange for silence.
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Considerable Context
Weinstein and his brother created the film distribution and production firm Miramax in 1979 as well as the production company That Weinstein Business in 2005. Although he was notorious for his aggressive Oscar campaign techniques, he created pictures that went on to win major prizes and gross millions at the box office.
One such film was Shakespeare in Love (1999), which he also produced. Hollywood figures knew, and suspicions circulated in the press, about Weinstein’s abusive tactics long before 2017 when they made front-page news.
Courtney Love advised aspiring actresses in 2005 not to attend a party at the Four Seasons if Harvey Weinstein was the host because “Weinstein invites me to a private function in the Four Seasons, don’t go.” Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino also claimed to have challenged Weinstein about his behaviour.
Reporters had a hard time getting victims to go on the record about the decades-long allegations of abuse against him because they worried punishment from the influential producer.
In 2015, Weinstein was questioned by police for reportedly molesting Italian supermodel Ambra Gutierrez, who recorded their conversation on tape, but he was never prosecuted; the New York City Police Bureau and District Attorney’s office afterwards blamed each other for failing to pursuing charges.
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In October 2017, investigations published by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed decades of harassment by Weinstein, including allegations of sexual assault and payments to victims like Ashley Judd & Rose McGowan.
A group of women published a list of 100 claims of sex harassment and assault against Weinstein early November 2017, prompting more alleged individuals to come forward in response to the exposes.
Although he has disputed allegations of nonconsensual sex or retaliation in interviews with The New Yorker and The New York Times, Harvey Weinstein has apologised to victims for his “insensitive and hurtful” behaviour.
The #MeToo movement was sparked in part by the Weinstein revelations, which led to allegations of sexual misconduct against dozens of other prominent figures, many of whom worked in the entertainment sector.
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Conclusion
On Thursday, hours before Weinstein was sentenced, famous Singer – songwriter R. Kelly, who has been the subject of sexual assault allegations for decades, was given a 20-year jail sentence that will be served largely consecutively with an existing sentence, pushing his total prison time to 31 years.
