The film producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to call several more witnesses on Monday in his New York rape trial, which is nearing its conclusion well ahead of schedule.
Related: Donna Rotunno: the legal Rottweiler leading Harvey Weinstein’s defense
Continue reading...Lauren Young gave a distressing account of an alleged hotel bathroom attack by the once-powerful movie producer
The sixth and final woman to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexually attacking them took the witness stand at his rape trial on Wednesday, describing in harrowing detail how he allegedly groped her in a Los Angeles hotel bathroom in 2013.
The jury in the New York supreme court were once again subjected to a graphic and distressing account of an alleged forced sex act imposed on an aspiring young actor by the once-powerful movie producer.
Continue reading...Rape trial continued with cross-examination of accuser who suffered a panic attack under questioning on Monday
The dramatic rape trial of Harvey Weinstein continued on Tuesday with the cross-examination of an accuser who suffered a panic attack under questioning the day before.
The 34-year-old witness alleges she was violently raped twice by the film producer in 2013. Her claims form a central pillar of the prosecution’s case.
Continue reading...Judge suspended proceedings until Tuesday morning after a key witness was unable to bring her crying under control
Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in New York had to be brought to an abrupt halt on Monday afternoon after one of his two main accusers was reduced to uncontrollable sobbing, having been subjected to more than four hours of relentless grilling at the hands of his defense lawyer.
James Burke, the judge presiding over the New York supreme court trial, suspended proceedings until Tuesday morning when the key witness was unable to bring her crying and breathing under control and appeared to have a panic attack. Even after a five-minute break, the woman continued to sob in her witness seat.
Continue reading...Israeli private detective firm employed by mogul to try to foil publication of sexual misconduct allegations, New York court told
The jury in the New York rape trial of Harvey Weinstein has heard that the once-powerful movie mogul employed the Israeli private investigation firm Black Cube to try to squash a New York Times article that blew the lid on sexual misconduct allegations against him and sparked the #MeToo movement.
Dev Sen, a corporate lawyer at the prestigious New York law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, told the court that his company had acted as go-between connecting the beleaguered movie producer to Black Cube. The private detective firm has a staff largely consisting of alumni of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Continue reading...Dawn Dunning describes experience of Weinstein ‘towering over’ her and allegedly demanding she have threesome with assistant
A witness at the Harvey Weinstein rape trial in New York described on Wednesday the moment the movie mogul allegedly screamed at her that she would never make it in the film business, after she refused to have a threesome with him and his assistant.
Dawn Dunning, 40, told the jury at the New York supreme court how she had become very scared about what Weinstein might do to her after she tried to get away from the room. “He was screaming. He was a big guy, and he was towering over me. I was really scared.”
Continue reading...US actor Rosie Perez testified in New York on the third day of the rape trial of Harvey Weinstein on Friday, describing phone calls she had with Annabella Sciorra where she learned Sciorra was allegedly raped.
Perez said she called Sciorra on a chilly night in 1993. Perez was in a good mood, saying, “Girl, what’s up? Wanna hang out?” hoping Sciorra was interested in going out that night.
Continue reading...Annabella Sciorra’s shocking testimony marks first time the Weinstein sex crimes trial directly heard from one of his accusers
In a packed courtroom in the New York supreme court in Manhattan on Thursday, the former Sopranos actor Annabella Sciorra held her arms above her head, wrists locked, in a physical re-enactment of the moment she alleged that the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein forcibly pinned her to her bed.
“He took my hands and put them over my head to hold them back,” the actor said, staring straight at the jury. Some 15ft away on the defense table, the defendant looked impassively at her.
Continue reading...New York prosecutor describes allegations of the women, who she says were ‘groomed’ before Weinstein assaulted them
Harvey Weinstein was a savvy New York businessman and famous Hollywood producer who used his power and the promise of his largesse within the film industry to groom a succession of naive and inexperienced women – who he went on to sexually assault and in some cases rape, state prosecutors alleged on Wednesday.
In an opening statement lasting over an hour, New York prosecutor Meghan Hast delivered a devastating and at times shocking account of Weinstein’s alleged attacks on six women who will testify at the fallen mogul’s trial in Manhattan.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dominique Huett says settlement amount ‘not very fair’ and joins growing list of women to reject proposed deal
A controversial proposed settlement between Harvey Weinstein and alleged victims of his sexual misconduct faces further delays, as a fourth accuser opts out and several others plan to object.
Related: Harvey Weinstein trial: how finding an impartial jury became a spectacle
Continue reading...Judge furious with Weinstein for using phone in courtroom, where mogul is standing trial on five counts of serious sexual offences
The second day of Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in Manhattan kicked off with sparks flying as the judge threatened to slap the movie mogul in jail for using his cellphone in court while defence lawyers protested that their client was not receiving a fair and impartial hearing.
Related: Harvey Weinstein hit with new charges in Los Angeles during New York trial
Continue reading...Movie mogul charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another over two days in 2013
Los Angeles prosecutors have announced criminal charges against Harvey Weinstein on Monday, following the start of the disgraced movie mogul’s rape trial in New York.
Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents over a two-day period in 2013, officials said on Monday. The felony charges include forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.
Continue reading...The trial is likely to be one of the most high-profile judicial events of the century, and will be closely watched by thousands
The rape trial of the fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein begins on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, opening a critical new chapter in the #MeToo movement that seeks justice for victims of alleged sexual assault at the hands of powerful men.
Related: Weinstein set to face his toughest legal challenge yet in New York trial
Continue reading...Actor accuses Weinstein of derailing her career after she ‘resisted his advances’
The actor Rosanna Arquette, one of Harvey Weinstein’s most prominent accusers, says she plans to attend the trial of the disgraced film producer when it starts in New York on Monday.
Arquette will not be giving evidence in the case, but she said she will be there to lend support to the handful of women who have been allowed to give testimony in court of Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct and abuse.
Continue reading...Director told the Independent he was ‘tired, as a white male, of being blamed for everything that is wrong with the world’
The director Terry Gilliam has invited renewed backlash after repeating his claim that he is a “black lesbian in transition”, assailing the #MeToo movement as a “witch-hunt” and asserting that some of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged victims are “adults who made choices”.
The website PinkNews offered swift condemnation, calling the 79-year-old’s comments “a feeble attempt to prove that white men are the real victims”.
Continue reading...Lead attorney for women could receive 25% of payout in settlement which would end most civil lawsuits
Lawyers representing alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein could get as much as 10 times more than some of the accusers themselves if a controversial settlement deal goes ahead, legal sources have told the Guardian.
Last week it was reported that more than 30 women accusing the disgraced Hollywood mogul of sexual misconduct had reached a tentative settlement deal. If approved in court, the settlement will bring to an end most of the civil lawsuits pending against him.
Continue reading...The disgraced Hollywood mogul has not been charged in the cases, which are being reviewed by Los Angeles prosecutors
Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing eight cases accusing disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, an official said Thursday.
The Los Angeles and Beverly Hills police departments each brought four investigations to prosecutors, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Continue reading...The disgraced movie mogul was close to settling civil claims for sexual assault – but now three women have broken ranks
Harvey Weinstein’s civil liabilities just got more complicated.
As he and his bankrupt film studio thought they were closing in on a bargain $47m class-action settlement with more than 30 actors and former employees over claims of sexual misconduct, three women have established separate legal actions against the disgraced movie producer.
Continue reading...Kaja Sokola was known as ‘Jane Doe’ in earlier class action lawsuit, and is now removing herself from that suit and going public
A former Polish model has accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Related: Twenty-three women accuse Harvey Weinstein of ‘trying to gaslight society’
Continue reading...Disgraced mogul tells New York Post he feels his pioneering work in gender equality has been ‘eviscerated’
Harvey Weinstein has complained he feels like “the forgotten man” and that his “pioneering” work championing movies directed by and about women has been “eviscerated” in the wake of multiple sexual assault allegations against him.
The 67-year-old producer, once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, has faced accusations of sexual assault and harassment from dozens of women.
Continue reading...