NEW YORK – The scandalous Hollywood movie director Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty in New York City to sexual assault charges stemming from a 2006 incident, the third such case against him.
More than 70 women have accused Weinstein, 66, of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment to rape. According to CNN, Weinstein had already pleaded not guilty to two rape charges and one criminal sex act charge, before he pleaded not guilty on Monday to an additional criminal sex act and two charges of predatory sexual assault.
“A Manhattan grand jury has now indicted Harvey Weinstein on some of the most serious sexual offenses that exist under New York’s penal law,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. said in a statement. “This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward.”
The local TV channel reported on Monday that “Allegations against Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company, first surfaced last year. Actresses Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, and Angelina Jolie were among the early accusers of sexual misconduct against Weinstein — regarding alleged incidents dating from 1980 to 2015”.
The allegations sparked the global #MeToo movement that encouraged women to speak out against sexual harassment in the workplace. Following the accusations, Weinstein was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was fired from The Weinstein Company, which is being sold. Weinstein, for his part, is free on bail as he fights the accusations.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, shared statements in a Press conference saying: “Mr. Weinstein maintains that all of these allegations are false, and he expects to be fully vindicated,” Brafman said. “Furthermore, to charge Mr. Weinstein as a predator when the interactions were each consensual is simply not justified.”
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, a legal defense fund known as Time’s Up was established to provide financial and legal backing toward sexual assault cases like the ones against Weinstein.
Till now, Weinstein has steadfastly denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex. The new charges bring to six the number of counts against him.
