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Harvey Weinstein Indicted on Rape Charges by New York Grand Jury


On Wednesday, a Manhattan grand jury officially indicted Harvey Weinstein on charges of rape and criminal sexual act, according to the Associated Press.

“This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. “Our office will try this case not in the press, but in a courtroom where it belongs.”

In the statement, Vance also thanked the “heroic survivors for their strength throughout this process” and thanked the New York City Police Department for its dedication to the case. The statement ended by urging any other potential victims to come forward with their allegations.

Weinstein did not testify in front of the grand jury on Wednesday. According to Weinstein’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman, he did not have adequate time to prepare his client for testimony.

“After being unfairly denied access to critical information about this case that was needed to defend him before the grand jury, Mr. Weinstein’s attorneys decided that there was not sufficient time to properly prepare Mr. Weinstein,” Brafman said in a statement. Brafman added that he felt an indictment was “inevitable” regardless of what his client may say on the stand due to “unfair political pressure.”

Weinstein turned himself in to authorities last week to face charges.

The disgraced Hollywood producer will now face the accusations brought by Lucia Evans, who says she met Weinstein in 2004. In October, Evans gave an in-depth interview to The New Yorker where she explained that during a one-on-one meeting with Weinstein, she was forced to perform oral sex on him.

“He’s a big guy. He overpowered me,” Evans said. “I just sort of gave up.”

Weinstein is currently out on $1 million bail and is required to wear an ankle bracelet as he awaits trial. To date, Weinstein has denied all allegations against him.

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Harvey Weinstein Reportedly Set to Turn Himself in to Authorities on Sexual Assault Charges


Disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to authorities on Friday, following a lengthy investigation into the sexual assault accusations brought against him, according to reports.

Weinstein, The New York Times reported, is set to be charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The Times further reported that Weinstein will face charges brought by at least one accuser. That person is Lucia Evans, who says she met Weinstein in 2004. Evans told The New Yorker in an in-depth review of Weinstein’s accusers that during a one-on-one meeting with the Hollywood producer, he forced her to perform oral sex on him.

“He’s a big guy. He overpowered me,” Evans told The New Yorker. “I just sort of gave up.”

Of Weinstein’s alleged process of harassing and assaulting women, Evans said, “It feels like a very streamlined process.” She added, “Female casting director, Harvey wants to meet. Everything was designed to make me feel comfortable before it happened. And then the shame in what happened was also designed to keep me quiet.”

According to The New York Times, prosecutors in Manhattan are still actively investigating allegations against Weinstein by actress Paz de la Huerta. She claims Weinstein raped her in her own home in New York City in 2010.

Since the fall of 2017, dozens of women have come forward to accuse Weinstein of misconduct, assault, and rape, including actresses Lena Headey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvino and more. Ashley Judd was one of the first women to go on record with her report, sharing her story in detail with The New York Times in October. Judd told The Times that sometime in the 1990s, Weinstein invited her to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel under the guise of a breakfast meeting. However, when she arrived at his room, he was only wearing a bathrobe and asked the young actress if she could watch him shower or if he could give her a massage.

“I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask,” Judd said. “It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining.”

Weinstein has denied engaging in non-consensual sex with anyone, Reuters writes.

Related Content:
These Are the Women Who Have Accused Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Harassment or Assault
An Explosive Report Alleges Decades of Sexual Harassment by Hollywood Powerhouse Harvey Weinstein
Post-Weinstein, These Are the Powerful Men Facing Sexual Harassment Allegations



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Salma Hayek: Harvey Weinstein Dismissed My Harassment Claims Because Women of Color Are 'the Easiest to Discredit'


In the wake of an explosive report in The New York Times outlining numerous sexual harassment and abuse allegations against film industry titan Harvey Weinstein, Salma Hayek wrote an op-ed for The Times in which she accused Weinstein of sexual harassment during the making of the 2002 film “Frida.” (Hayek starred as the title character.) She also said that Weinstein had threatened to kill her.

Weinstein’s lawyers denied the claims made by Hayek, stating: “All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired.”

Weinstein’s team has been dismissive of other claims—for example, when actress Lupita Nyong’o came forward with sexual harassment allegations of her own against the Hollywood producer.

While the two incidents may have appeared to be isolated, at the Women In Motion panel at Cannes on Sunday, May 13, Hayek argued that Weinstein had been especially dismissive of allegations made by herself and Nyong’o because they are both women of color.

“We are the easiest to get discredited,” she said, according to Variety. “It is a well-known fact. So he went back, attacking the two women of color, in hopes that if he could discredit us.”

Hayek’s candidness surrounding Weinstein’s actions wasn’t the only form of protest exercised at the film festival this past weekend. On Saturday evening (May 12), 82 women, including Hayek, silently protested the significant gender imbalance present at Cannes. The 82 women in attendance were a symbolic representation of the 82 female directors who have screened at the festival since its first edition in 1946.

“On these steps today stand 82 women representing the number of female directors who have climbed these stairs since the first edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1946,” actress Cate Blanchett, this year’s competition jury president, and Belgian film director Agnès Varda said in a joint statement. “In the same period 1,688 male directors have climbed these very same stairs. In the 71 years of this world-renowned festival there have been 12 female heads of its juries. The prestigious Palme d’Or has been bestowed upon 71 male directors—too numerous to mention by name—but only two women, Jane Campion, who is with us in spirit, and Agnès Varda, who stands with us today.”

While protests like this one, coupled with the rising resilience of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, are making some traction, Hayek warned in the Cannes panel against complacency in Hollywood and beyond: “Now is the time for action.”

Related Content:

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Post-Weinstein, These Are the Powerful Men Facing Sexual Harassment Allegations



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Georgina Chapman Opens Up About Harvey Weinstein In Raw New Interview


Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman is speaking publicly about her soon-to-be-ex-husband Harvey Weinstein for the first time since the New York Times and the New Yorker published stories detailing accusations of harassment and assault against the movie mogul last fall. She released a short statement in October about her decision to leave her husband. “My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband,” Chapman said. “Caring for my young children is my first priority, and I ask the media for privacy at this time.”

Now she’s opening up to Vogue about the months since and why she’s maintained an incredibly low profile. “I was so humiliated and so broken . . . that . . . I, I, I . . . didn’t think it was respectful to go out,” she says. “I thought, Who am I to be parading around with all of this going on? It’s still so very, very raw. I was walking up the stairs the other day and I stopped; it was like all the air had been punched out of my lungs.”

Though Chapman (and business partner Keren Craig) have continued to run their fashion line, Marchesa, they did choose to cancel the runway show for the Fall 2018 collection which raised some eyebrows about the brand’s future.”We didn’t feel it was appropriate given the situation,” she says. “All the women who have been hurt deserve dignity and respect, so I want to give it the time it deserves. It’s a time for mourning, really.” (The line returned to the red carpet at Monday’s Met Ball when it was worn by Scarlett Johansson.)

Chapman maintains that she knew nothing of Weinstein’s behavior and was never suspicious. “That’s what makes this so incredibly painful: I had what I thought was a very happy marriage,” she says. “I loved my life.” But soon after the stories were published, she made the decision to leave. “It was difficult because the first article was about a time long before I’d ever met him, so there was a minute where I couldn’t make an informed decision. And then the stories expanded and I realized that this wasn’t an isolated incident. And I knew that I needed to step away and take the kids out of here.” When asked about Weinstein’s current state of mind, Chapman replies, “Clearly when I was married to him I didn’t know anything about his state of mind, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.”

The designer’s concern for the two young children she shares with Weinstein is clear in the interview and she becomes visibly upset speaking about them. “There was a part of me that was terribly naive—clearly, so naive. I have moments of rage, I have moments of confusion, I have moments of disbelief! And I have moments when I just cry for my children. What are their lives going to be? What are people going to say to them? It’s like, they love their dad. They love him. I just can’t bear it for them!”

In the end, Chapman doesn’t seem to be asking for anyone’s pity though. “I don’t want to be viewed as a victim,” she says, “because I don’t think I am. I am a woman in a shit situation, but it’s not unique.”



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Ashley Judd Sues Harvey Weinstein for Allegedly Damaging Her Career


Yesterday, actress Ashley Judd filed a lawsuit against former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein alleging that her career was damaged by lies he spread against her in the Hollywood community after she rejected his sexual advances. Judd was one of the first women to come forward with her story about the producer. In October, she told the New York Times she remembered thinking of an encounter with Weinstein, “How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?”

The Times notes that it is rare for people to recover damages in suits such as this, as they can be hard to prove. But Judd appears to have a corroborating witness on her side, Lord of the Rings‘ director Peter Jackson. Judd claims that she was being for a prominent role in the film franchise when suddenly, the talks came to an abrupt halt. She told ABC News that she went from being invited to consider two roles to “poof,” nothing. “We never heard anything back and I remember calling my agent multiple times,” Judd said.

Her lawsuit alleges that Weinstein “torpedoed Ms. Judd’s incredible professional opportunity” by falsely telling Mr. Jackson that Ms. Judd was a “nightmare” who should be avoided “at all costs.” Jackson appears to back this up in a December interview with Stuff. “I recall Miramax telling us they [Judd and Mira Sorvino] were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs. This was probably in 1998,” Jackson said. “At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us – but in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing. I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women – and as a direct result their names were removed from our casting list.”

According to the Times, Judd is suing Weinstein for defamation and sexual harassment and for violating California’s broadly written Unfair Competition law, which prohibits “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business acts and practices.” Her lawyer, Theodore Boutrou Jr says, “Ashley is fighting back, but she also wants to point the way for others” and that “if this isn’t an example of unfair business practice then I don’t know what is.” Judd says that any money won in the suit will be donated to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

Weinstein issued a statement denying Judd’s claims: “The most basic investigation of the facts will reveal that Mr. Weinstein neither defamed Ms. Judd nor ever interfered with Ms. Judd’s career, and instead not only championed her work but also repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies over the next decade. The actual facts will show that Mr. Weinstein was widely known for having fought for Ms. Judd as his first choice for the lead role in Good Will Hunting and, in fact, arranged for Ms. Judd to fly to New York to be considered for the role. Thereafter, Ms. Judd was hired for not one, but two of Mr. Weinstein’s movies, ‘Frida’ in 2002 and ‘Crossing Over’ with Harrison Ford in 2009. We look forward to a vigorous defense of these claims.”



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Cannes to Launch Sexual Harassment Hotline Following Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo


With help from the French government, the Cannes Film Festival is planning to launch a hotline that victims can call to report incidents of sexual assault or harassment at the event this year, following allegations that producer Harvey Weinstein had assaulted multiple women during the prestigious festival in the past.

At a press conference in Paris Friday, Marlène Schiappa, France’s gender equality minister, said those attending the festival would be warned to mind their behavior when they arrive at the French Riviera for the 2018 festival, which kicks off May 8, according to Agence France-Presse,

“We’ve gone into partnership with the Cannes Film Festival to tackle sexual harassment and set up a helpline,” Schiappa said at the event. “One of the rapes that Harvey Weinstein is accused of happened at Cannes, and so the festival cannot fail to act.”

Actresses including Alice Evans, Annabella Sciorra, Judith Godrèche, and Zoë Brock have all come forward with stories of unwanted advances Weinstein allegedly made toward them at hotels during the multiday film festival. Actress Asia Argento told The New Yorker that in the French Riviera in 1997, Weinstein forcibly performed an oral sex act on her. Weinstein has denied all nonconsensual sexual activity.

Cannes has spoken out against Weinstein in the past. After accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse were reported in The New Yorker and The New York Times, festival director Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure released a statement, condemning his actions.

“These acts are part of an unpardonable behavior that can only give rise to a clear and unqualified condemnation,” the statement read. “Our thoughts go to the victims, to those women who have had the courage to testify and to all the others. May this case help to denounce once again serious and unacceptable practices.”

People have criticized Cannes for other issues of gender inequality and representation over the years. Although Cate Blanchett was chosen to be this year’s jury president, The Guardian points out that few women directors actually make it into the annual festival selections (only three women will compete for the top festival prize, the Palme d’Or, this year). The upcoming competition also marks a return for Lars von Trier, the Danish director whose production company was accused of sexual harassment and who had been banned from the festival for seven years after making anti-Semitic remarks.



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