New York (AFP) – Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was at the center of abuse allegations that spurred the MeToo movement in Hollywood, will be sentenced again Wednesday for sexually assaulting a former production assistant. Weinstein, 74, faces at least two decades in prison for forcibly performing oral sex in 2006 on Miriam Haley, one of dozens of women who have made accusations against the “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” producer.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in 2020 for the sexual assault, but it was overturned on appeal in 2024. A jury found him guilty again in 2025 after a retrial in New York. Following the verdict, Haley told reporters that the defense’s “victim shaming and deliberate attempts to distort the truth was exhausting and at times dehumanizing.” “But today’s verdict gives me hope, hope that there is new awareness around sexual violence and that the myth of the ‘perfect victim’ is fading.”
Weinstein, who is currently jailed in New York, once ruled Hollywood as a kingpin powerful enough to make or break projects and careers. But investigations by The New Yorker and The New York Times exposed a raft of abusive behavior and prompted an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 people. Weinstein is also to be resentenced in California for the 2013 rape and assault of an actress in a Los Angeles hotel room, after an appeals court in June upheld the conviction but vacated his 16-year prison term.
Meanwhile, a New York judge in May declared a mistrial in a separate case after jurors failed to reach a verdict on allegations he sexually assaulted actor Jessica Mann. It was the third time Mann had taken the stand against Weinstein after a 2020 guilty verdict was overturned due to mishandling of witnesses, and a 2025 case ended in mistrial after a jury-room feud. Prosecutors later said they would not pursue a fourth trial in Mann’s case.
Weinstein, who is wheelchair-bound due to health issues, has continued to deny all allegations against him. He underwent a spectacular fall from his position astride the world of show business when the first allegations against him exploded into public view. The ensuing furor snowballed into the global MeToo movement and a reckoning that rocked the world of entertainment, with multiple men called to account for abusing their positions to exploit young women in the industry.
© 2024 AFP
