Harvey Weinstein's accusers 'all said no,' prosecutor tells jury as rape retrial ends
Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. JUSTIN LANE/Pool via REUTERS
Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Michael Nagle/Pool via REUTERS
Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. JUSTIN LANE/Pool via REUTERS
NEW YORK - A prosecutor on Wednesday told jurors in Harvey Weinstein's Manhattan retrial that the evidence clearly showed the former movie mogul raped three women, pushing back on a defense lawyer's efforts to paint the accusers as liars.
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg picked up where she left off during closing arguments the previous day, seeking to show that Weinstein forced himself on the women despite their pleading with him to stop.
The Academy Award-winning producer and Miramax studio co-founder is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting the two other women in 2006 and 2002. Weinstein, who has denied ever having non-consensual sex or assaulting anyone, has pleaded not guilty. The trial began in April.
"Members of the jury, he raped three women. They all said, 'no,'" Blumberg said.
Weinstein, 73, is on trial for a second time after a New York state appeals court threw out his conviction in April 2024. Experiencing a litany of health problems, Weinstein was present in court on Wednesday in a wheelchair, wearing a dark suit and tie.
Before Blumberg's pitch to jurors Wednesday, defense lawyer Arthur Aidala twice moved for a mistrial based on the prosecutor's arguments the previous day, but the motions were swiftly denied by state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber.
The 12 jurors are due to begin deliberations after closing arguments are completed and Farber instructs them on the law.
Blumberg on Tuesday called Weinstein a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them. She urged jurors Wednesday to disregard the defense's claim the Weinstein was on trial because he was famous and that prosecutors were trying to criminalize consensual sex.
"We heard a lot about 'policing the bedroom' yesterday," Blumberg said, referring to Aidala's closing argument on Tuesday. "We don't want to police bedrooms either - unless you're forcibly raping someone inside them."
Aidala on Tuesday accused the three alleged victims of lying on the witness stand out of spite after consensual sexual encounters with Weinstein failed to deliver them Hollywood stardom.
"They are lying about what happened. Not about everything, but about a small slice - just enough to turn their regret, their buyers' remorse, into criminality," Aidala said of the accusers.
The lawyer hoisted a dozen poster-sized placards showing emails from the accusers where they seek Weinstein's company after the alleged attacks, saying they showed the women were lying.
Weinstein faces a maximum sentence of up to 29 years in prison if convicted on all charges. He already will likely spend the rest of his life in prison due to a 16-year prison sentence given to him after being found guilty in December 2022 of rape in California.
He was convicted of rape by a jury in the previous trial in Manhattan in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York, when the conviction was overturned.
That conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men. More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct.
Weinstein has been held at New York City's Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned. He has experienced several health scares while being held at Rikers, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
37 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Proud Boys leaders seek $100 million over Jan. 6 prosecutions
FILE PHOTO: Former far-right Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs and former national chairman of the Proud Boys Henry \"Enrique\" Tarrio speak to reporters during a press availability outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Four leaders of the Proud Boys who were pardoned after being found guilty of trying to keep President Donald Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021 after he lost the election to Joe Biden filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking $100 million from the government. "The Plaintiffs bring this suit to seek redress for the multiple violations of their constitutional rights," the document read. The lawsuit was filed in Florida by Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, the former chairman of the far-right group, and Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Ethan Nordean, who all played leadership roles, plus Dominic Pezzola. Tarrio was convicted of crimes including seditious conspiracy for his role in planning the Capitol riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying Biden's election defeat of Trump in 2020. He was ordered to serve 22 years in prison. Biggs, Rehl and Nordean all played leadership roles in the Proud Boys and were tried alongside Tarrio for seditious conspiracy and other crimes. Pezzola was accused of assaulting former Capitol Police Officer Mark Ode by stealing his riot shield and using it to smash a window at the Capitol. All four also received jail terms. On the first day of his return office in 2025, Trump issued a sweeping clemency order, granting pardons to almost all of the more than 1,500 defendants who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and issuing sentence commutations to 14 others. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US, China to hold trade talks on June 9 in London, Trump says
FILE PHOTO: U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken March 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo US, China to hold trade talks on June 9 in London, Trump says U.S. President Trump on Friday said three of his cabinet officials will meet with representatives of China in London on June 9 to discuss a trade deal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend from the U.S. side. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The scheduling of the meeting comes a day after Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump's January inauguration. Though stocks rallied, the temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and U.S. complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards ‘satisfactory' tariff deal
South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump spoke in their first phone call on June 6. PHOTO: REUTERS, EPA-EFE SEOUL - US President Donald Trump and South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung agreed to work toward a swift tariff deal and shared stories about their experiences in their first phone call since Lee was elected, his office said on June 6. Mr Trump has imposed tariffs on South Korea, which has a bilateral free trade deal, pressed it to pay more for the 28,500 troops stationed there and increased competition with China. The future of South Korea's export-oriented economy will hinge on what kind of deal Mr Lee can strike, with all of his country's key sectors from chips to autos and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. His term began on June 11. 'The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible that both countries can be satisfied with,' Mr Lee's office said in a statement. 'To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results.' Mr Trump invited Mr Lee to a summit in the US and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official. The two leaders also shared stories from the campaign trail, including of assassination attempts and political difficulties, and agreed that strong leadership emerges as they overcome difficulties, Mr Lee's office said. Mr Lee survived a knife attack and underwent surgery when he was stabbed in the neck by a man during an event in 2024. Mr Trump and Mr Lee also talked of their golf skills and agreed to play golf when possible, Mr Lee's office said, while Mr Lee mentioned that he was gifted a hat with Mr Trump's signature on it. South Korea, a major US ally and one of the first countries to engage with Washington after Japan on trade talks, agreed in late April to craft a 'July package' scrapping levies before the 90-day pause on Mr Trump's reciprocal tariffs is lifted, but progress was disrupted by upheavals in its leadership. Mr Lee, a liberal, was elected on June 3 after the US ally's former conservative leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted. Mr Lee said on the eve of the elections that 'the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States.' Mr Lee's camp has said, however, that they intend to seek more time to negotiate on trade with Mr Trump. While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Mr Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
