Longtime Hollywood tycoon Harvey Weinstein is finally seeing his day in court after years of settlements, indictments and a monumental social movement. After his years of alleged sexual misconduct exploits became public knowledge, 67-year-old Weinstein faces five felony counts in criminal trial, which include counts of predatory rape and sexual assault. Weinstein settled civil lawsuits against him for a whopping $25 million. Monday’s proceedings occur to work out details between the prosecution and defense, before jury selection on Tuesday.
In addition to criminal charges in the State of New York, per The New York Times, Weinstein is also facing an indictment from LA prosecutors, announced just as his Manhattan trial began.
News: With Harvey Weinstein’s trial in NYC starting today, we learn that the LA District Attorney has indicted Weinstein on additional sex crime charges https://t.co/BAqnyMNZNA
— Yashar Ali ?? (@yashar) January 6, 2020
The numerous allegations against Weinstein marked a crucial moment in the MeToo movement; given the nature of these crimes, sexual misconduct cases typically do not make it very far in the judicial system. Given his stature in Hollywood, the allegations made against him gave life to the TimesUp movement. Numerous women allegedly affected by Weinstein’s misconduct gathered outside his trial in New York City, lead by Rose McGowan, who was one of Weinstein’s original accusers.
"You brought this upon yourself by hurting so many." Actress Rose McGowan speaks out as Harvey Weinstein begins his sexual assault trial in New York https://t.co/WUwtTItWZ1 pic.twitter.com/nHQy3lqTWr
— TIME (@TIME) January 6, 2020
Weinstein’s fate is unknown, but this additional indictment cannot be a good sign for the Hollywood mogul.