Five years after the #MeToo movement began in reaction to women’s allegations of sexual assault and harassment by him, Harvey Weinstein is currently in court in the city where he once commanded a prominent presence at the Oscars. The 70-year-old former movie mogul is already serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York, but he is also accused of a number of other crimes, some of which, according to the prosecution, occurred during a critical Oscar week in Los Angeles. The eight-week trial will begin with jury selection on Monday.
Five women who will appear in court under the alias Jane Does have filed allegations against Weinstein, accusing him of four counts of rape and seven more counts of sexual assault. He entered a plea of not guilty. Four more women will be allowed to speak about sexual assaults that happened but didn’t result in charges in order to show jurors that Weinstein had a habit of committing such crimes.
Through the company Miramax, which he and his brother co-founded, Weinstein led the way in using extensive and aggressive marketing to push Academy Award nominations starting in the 1990s. He was among the most men ever acknowledged in Oscar victory speeches, and he attained unheard-of achievement by assisting films like ‘The Artist’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ win best picture Oscars.
Although it is a follow-up case and Weinstein is already serving a lengthy sentence, the Los Angeles trial is anticipated to be much less spectacular than the New York proceedings. There isn’t a magnificent entryway and little foot circulation in the downtown LA courthouse where the trial is being held. Weinstein won’t face the same media horde or protesters outside as he did in Manhattan since he will be escorted straight from jail into the courthouse after changing from his prison garb into a suit and into a small tunnel where no cameras are allowed that could video him.
Compared to many dozen in New York, the little courthouse only allows twelve reporters each day. There will be a limit of two sketch artists. The civil sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey in New York and the rape trial of ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson, which is taking place right next door to Weinstein’s, are two trials with connections to the #MeToo movement that have started or are about to start as the movement’s fifth anniversary approaches.
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