Latest news with #WeinsteinCo.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
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.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein trial prosecutors call witnesses to set up testimony for accuser Jessica Mann
Prosecutors set the stage Thursday for Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann to take the stand in the disgraced movie mogul's sexual assault retrial in Manhattan. Mann, now 39, testified at Weinstein's trial in 2020 that she was trying to break into acting in 2013 when he raped her in a New York hotel on March 18, 2013, and again later that year in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She's expected to take the stand again in the retrial, after the state's highest court threw out Weinstein's guilty verdict last year. Jurors on Thursday heard from one of Weinstein's assistants, Elizabeth Perz, who testified that Weinstein invited Mann and her friend, actress and model Talita Maia, to an Oscar viewing party in February 2013. She also told jurors how Weinstein's assistants maintained a running 'FOH' or 'Friends of Harvey' list. 'A Friend of Harvey was a woman that he'd meet at events or parties or festivals or wherever,' Perz testified. Perz testified about spotting prescription bottles and empty bottles in Weinstein's bags, and when asked to describe the medications she saw, she responded, 'It's for erectile dysfunction.' Mann is expected to testify about getting into a toxic and confusing relationship with the twice-her-age movie producer after she moved to Los Angeles from Washington state, and acknowledge that several of their sexual encounters were consensual. The charges against Weinstein involve an alleged episode at a Midtown hotel in 2013 when Mann said no and Weinstein didn't listen, raping her. Jurors also heard from Marci Liroff, a longtime casting director who now works as an intimacy coordinator on film sets, who testified that she agreed to see Mann and Maia at the Weinstein Company's insistence while she was casting the 2014 film 'Vampire Academy.' She was instructed to keep Weinstein out of the casting process, but ultimately acquiesced, she said. 'I didn't think it was a wise choice … to say no to Mr. Weinstein,' she said. 'I have a career to look after.' She did so reluctantly, she said, because Mann was too tall, too old, and not a strong enough actress to play the teenage vampire 'Mia.' The part went to another actress. Weinstein's lawyer, Diana Samson, pressed Liroff on whether she resented having to see Mann, and she responded that she simply didn't have the time to see people she didn't think were right for the role. 'I did make the time because I was forced into it. Do you understand? I kept getting phone calls from the Weinstein Co. saying Harvey needs you to meet these women,' she said. The Manhattan Supreme Court retrial has featured days of testimony from two other accusers, former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, and Polish model and aspiring actress Kaja Sokola. Haley also testified at Weinstein's 2020 trial, which ended with a jury finding him guilty of raping Mann and of criminal sex act based off Haley's allegations. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but the state state Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, ruling 4-3 that the trial court judge, James Burke, shouldn't have allowed testimony of 'uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Variety's International Achievement in Film Honoree Tarak Ben Ammar Built a Film Business From Scratch and Plans to Boost Saudi Arabia Moviemaking
An infallible dealmaker, resourceful problem-solver and filmmaker-friendly bon vivant, Tarak Ben Ammar has played a pivotal, yet often behind-the-scenes role, in building cultural and cinematic bridges between Europe, the U.S. and the Arab world in last 50 years. The Franco-Tunisian producer and businessman, who runs Italy's leading independent distribution company Eagle Pictures and one of the largest studios complexes in France, began as an outsider in the late 1960s. He quickly became an ally to iconic filmmakers such as Roberto Rossellini, Georges Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Franco Zeffirelli. He opened the doors of Tunisia to the film world, helping build an industry from scratch while facilitating the productions of such pics as 'Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'Jesus of Nazareth' and 'La Traviata,' among others. More from Variety Hasan Hadi's 'The President's Cake' Sells to France and Benelux Ahead of World Premiere in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE) Cannes' Blood Window: Gigi Saul Guerrero, Vampire Romantasy, 'New Horror,' More Women Filmmakers and Psychological Insight (EXCLUSIVE) Oliver Laxe's 'Sirât' Debuts Trailer Ahead of World Premiere in Cannes Competition (EXCLUSIVE) As he ventured deeper into the entertainment industry, Ben Ammar became something of a 'billionaire whisperer.' Some of the powerful (and sometimes divisive) figures he's befriended, did business with and advised over the years include Rupert Murdoch, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Vivendi boss Vincent Bolloré, Saudi Arabia's Prince Al Waleed and even Michael Jackson, whom he managed in the 1990s. In Hollywood, his adroit, behind-the-scenes maneuvers almost single-handedly rescued the Weinstein Co.'s assets and library from going up in smoke after the Harvey Weinstein scandal exploded. These days, at the age of 75, Ben Ammar is in his prime, professionally speaking. Besides keeping busy with Eagle Pictures and making movies with Sony, Ben Ammar is on a journey to expand the film industry in Saudi Arabia. He recently launched Eagle in Saudi Arabia to 'replicate the Italian model,' he says, as well as releasing Sony product and other prestige international and local movies in the region. He helped create a $100 million film fund with the Saudi Culture Fund. 'Tarak has been a consistent force over those 20 years,' says FilmNation boss Glen Basner, who got close to Ben Ammar two decades ago when he worked at the Weinstein Co. and is now frequently collaborating with Eagle Pictures on features. 'He does different things always. He's an entrepreneur, not just a filmmaker,' Basner continues, adding that 'whether in Europe, Middle East or America, he operates at the highest and most sophisticated levels in each of those areas because he's smart, but he's also kind and generous, and very easy to talk to. He has built a tremendous amount of trust and he cares about cinema in a very real and serious way.' Brought up across Europe, Africa and America, Ben Ammar came from a bourgeois family in Tunisia — his father was a prominent lawyer and diplomat, while his aunt was married to former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba — but he's a self-made man in the movie industry. Ben Ammar attended an American Catholic boarding school in Rome and then Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. 'My father was convinced the future was in America, so I got an American education,' says Ben Ammar, who now lives between Rome, Los Angeles and Paris. During his high school years, Ben Ammar says he learned about different cultures, religions and languages. By the age of 13, he spoke five languages (French, Italian, English, Arabic and German), and his friends came from all different ethnic backgrounds. In a typical Ben Ammar move, he turned the fact that he was the only (non-practicing) Muslim student at the school to his advantage, enlisting the guidance of a priest, who'd seen him come to mass every Sunday, to teach him everything about the Old Testament, the New Testament and Islam. Years later, as he started working on 'The Messiah' and 'Jesus of Nazareth,' Ben Ammar says he reconnected with the priest — who was then retired — to hire him as a consultant. During those formative years, he'd also spend his weekends watching American movies. 'By the time I graduated in 1970, I'd probably seen 1,500 films and I was passionate about cinema,' he graduating from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service in 1970, he was planning to go to Harvard Business School, but the impulse to make a career in film was sparked by U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural speech. 'He said, 'My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country,'' reminisces Ben Ammar. 'That phrase stuck in my head.'So he boldly decided to return to Tunisia. 'When I came back to Tunisia, I was 21, and I said to myself, 'What can I do for myself and for my country?' And I found film to be the vehicle,' says Ben Ammar. He could promote the country as a filming destination, a less-expensive alternative to Spain or Italy, which were popular at the time with Hollywood, and a two-hour flight from Rome. He didn't let the fact that there was no film industry in Tunisia stop him. And at about that time, Ben Ammar ran into Rossellini at an airport and approached him. Taken by Ben Ammar's enthusiasm and eagerness, the Italian master offered him his first job on the spot as a production coordinator on his 1975 feature 'The Messiah,' which shot entirely in Tunisia. Rossellini then introduced him to Francesco Rossi, who filmed 'The Mattei Affair' in Tunisia, as well as Zeffirelli, who filmed 'Jesus of Nazareth,' 'La Traviata' and 'The Young Toscanini' in the country. Other features that followed included 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' and Lucas' 'Star Wars.' It was Lucas who introduced Ben Ammar to Spielberg, and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' shot many key scenes in Tunisia. 'I became the new kid in town who could help you make a movie less expensively in a beautiful North African setting. I really put Tunisia on the map,'' he says. Ben Ammar ultimately brought 68 movies to Tunisia. 'It's over a million people who worked on our movies,' he says proudly. Ben Ammar says he learned to stay close to directors. 'They made my career, so I'm director-friendly. I'm very sensitive to their vision,' he says. 'He's an incredible connector,' says Dominique Delport, the former boss of Havas who sat on the board of Vivendi with Ben Ammar and is now part of the Saudi fund's investors committee. 'I think he was one of the first people to connect the U.S. with Africa and with the Arab world,' Delport says. 'That's what he did when he brought Spielberg and George Lucas to Tunisia and set up the first studios there. That's what he accomplished when he took it upon himself to promote Arab directors at various festivals.' Ben Ammar is now aiming to do in Saudi Arabia what he did in Tunisia, hoping to see the local film industry flourish and young filmmakers emerge. 'Always listen to young people, that's my No. 1 mantra because I was in my early 20s when I started and people listened to me,' says Ben fund he's helped launch in Saudi is the 'first of its kind in the MENA region,' says Ben Ammar, adding that '60% of the fund will come from the private sector — 5% from Eagle, and about 40% from the public sector.' The Saudi fund, which was initiated by the Saudi culture development initiative, is chaired by Ben Ammar. He in turn brought Jeffrey Schlesinger, the former president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television, prominent Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy and Delport to be part of the investment committee, with the goal to finance commercial movies worldwide, not just Saudi projects. Ben Ammar says Saudi Arabia is a promising market because of 'the size of its population and youth, its desire to modernize the media industry and massive theatrical opportunities,' noting that 'The Equalizer 3,' on which Eagle was a producer, did twice the box office in Saudi Arabia compared to Italy. Ben Ammar's Eagle Pictures — which he bought in 2007 — has distribution deals with Paramount since 2020 (facilitated by his pal, former Par chair and CEO Jim Gianopulos), and with Sony since 2023 (facilitated by Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Pictures Group chair and CEO Tom Rothman). That pact includes distribution and co-production. Sony has so far partnered with Eagle on a pair of high-profile movies, 'Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile' and 'Equalizer 3,' which shot entirely in Italy. Both were co-financed with 'tens of millions of dollars' from Eagle, Ben Ammar says. While 'The Equalizer 4' is now in early development, Eagle has recently co-invested with Sony on the upcoming Darren Aronofsky film, 'Caught Stealing.' Steven O'Dell, Sony President of International Theatrical Distribution, says Ben Ammar's cross-cultural background gives him a significant edge. 'One of the things about global is that whether you're making movies, whether you're releasing them or whether you're just dealing with people doing in business, it's about understanding that cultures are different, and recognizing it, and knowing how to just interact with it and understand it when it comes to the consumer, and when it comes to just working with partners. And he gets it very well. He's truly a man of the world in that sense,' O'Dell says. The executive also points to Ben Ammar's charisma, noting that he has made many friends on Sony's lot in Culver City, where they often meet. 'He probably knows more people on the lot than I do,' quips O'Dell. 'There's not enough color that I have to describe Tarak. He's worthy of a book, not an article. He's a quite a character.' Basner says Ben Ammar also won him over with his endearing personality. 'He's a very significantly successful businessman, and in one minute, you're immediately disarmed because he's so just genuine and charming and nice and open,' says Basner. 'He wants you to win just as much as he'd like to win himself. And you just somehow sense that right off the bat with it.' Getting back to his production roots, in 2022, Ben Ammar partnered with American investors, notably Ira Capital, to buy the Studios of Paris for €30 million ($34 million). It was a venture that he had initially invested in, alongside filmmaker/producer Luc Besson, and has recently hosted Netflix hit 'Emily in Paris,' as well the 2024 Olympic Village. He's also looking to ramp up production at Eagle and is planning an English-language remakes of France's and Italy's highest-grossing local films of 2024: 'A Little Something Extra,' the French comedy starring a disabled cast, and 'The Boy With Pink Trousers.' Ben Ammar co-produced and produced and distributed 'Trousers,' based on a true story about a young man who committed suicide after being bullied , which helped the country fight against bullying in schools. But the common thread running through Ben Ammar's life and career remains his passion for the American filmmakers and actors of that New Hollywood era he fell in love with as a teenager. Just a couple weeks ago, he celebrated with Spielberg, Lucas and Harrison Ford as Francis Ford Coppola received the AFI Life Achievement Award in a glittering Hollywood gala. And this year, he's already planning to throw a party for Robert De Niro when the actor heads to the Cannes Film Festival to receive the Honorary Palme d'Or. 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Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Harvey Weinstein motives are disputed as sex crimes retrial begins
Prosecutor Shannon Lucey points to former film producer Harvey Weinstein before Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber during opening statements as his retrial on rape and sexual assault charges got underway at Manhattan Criminal Court, in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2025 in a courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg watches as former film producer Harvey Weinstein is wheeled into court before state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber as his retrial on rape and sexual assault charges got underway at Manhattan Criminal Court, in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2025 in a courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Monday, April 21, 2025. Michael Nagle/Pool via REUTERS NEW YORK - Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sexual assault charges got underway on Wednesday, as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer offered starkly contrasting explanations for the disgraced movie mogul's encounters with women who hoped to make it big in Hollywood. Prosecutor Shannon Lucey told jurors in a New York state court in Manhattan that Weinstein exploited his status as a Hollywood gatekeeper and power broker to prey upon and sexually abuse women, then assured their silence by holding their careers hostage. "Harvey Weinstein had enormous control over those working in TV and film because he decided who was in and who was out," Lucey said in her opening statement. "He had all the power. They had none." Prosecutors have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into hotel rooms and private apartments where he overpowered and attacked them. Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala rejected that characterization, saying the Oscar-winning producer had "mutually beneficial" relationships with his accusers, who ended up with auditions and other show business opportunities. "They realized very quickly: Harvey Weinstein, he's got the key to that room where they all want to go," Aidala said in his opening statement, referring to career advancement. Weinstein, 73, dressed in a dark suit and navy tie, listened after being brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and one count of third-degree rape, and could face decades in prison if convicted. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was in attendance as the retrial began. #METOO Weinstein is being retried one year after New York's highest court overturned his 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction and 23-year prison sentence, citing errors by the trial judge. The conviction had been 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. He has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex. Weinstein co-founded the Miramax studio, whose hit movies included "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." His own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicized. The new trial before state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber is expected to last about six weeks. Farber did not handle the original trial. NEW CHARGE In ordering a retrial, the state Court of Appeals last April said Weinstein's first trial had been unfair because the judge let women testify that Weinstein assaulted them, even though their accusations were not the basis for criminal charges. Bragg's office is again accusing Weinstein of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, charges he was convicted of in the first trial. For the retrial, prosecutors added a new charge that Weinstein assaulted another woman in Manhattan in 2006. Lucey said that woman is Kaja Sokola, from Poland, who claims Weinstein assaulted her when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress. Even if he is acquitted, Weinstein will likely spend the rest of his life in prison because he was convicted of sex crimes in California and was sentenced to a 16-year term. Weinstein has had several health scares while being held in New York City's Rikers Island jail, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. Citing his health, Weinstein's lawyers are seeking a court order to let him stay overnight at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for the duration of the trial. Weinstein's representatives have said he has received inadequate medical care at Rikers. Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer representing Sokola, in a statement said the retrial "will test how far we've advanced in our collective understanding of sexual assault, power dynamics, and what it means to be a survivor." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Harvey Weinstein abused his power, prosecutor says at sex crimes retrial
Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Monday, April 21, 2025. Michael Nagle/Pool via REUTERS NEW YORK - Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sexual assault charges got underway on Wednesday in Manhattan, as a prosecutor said the once-powerful movie producer preyed upon women hoping to make it big in Hollywood. Prosecutor Shannon Lucey told jurors in a New York state court in Manhattan that the Oscar-winning producer exploited his status as a Hollywood gatekeeper and power broker to sexually abuse women then assured their silence by holding their careers hostage. "Harvey Weinstein had enormous control over those working in TV and film because he decided who was in and who was out," Lucey said in her opening argument. "He had all the power. They had none." Prosecutors have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into hotel rooms and private apartments where he overpowered and attacked them. Weinstein, 73, dressed in a dark suit and navy tie, listened after being brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. His lawyers are expected to give an opening argument later on Wednesday. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and one count of third-degree rape. He could face decades in prison if convicted. The trial came one year after New York's highest court overturned Weinstein's 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction and 23-year prison sentence, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein's conviction had been a capstone moment 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. The Miramax studio co-founder has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex. The new trial before state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber is expected to last about six weeks. Farber did not handle the original trial. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg attended the start of the retrial. "We're hoping that Mr. Weinstein is going to get a fair trial this time," Imran Ansari, one of his lawyers, told reporters. "He wants to clear his name." NEW CHARGE The state Court of Appeals threw out Weinstein's conviction last April and ordered a new trial, saying that the trial had been unfair because the original judge let women testify that Weinstein assaulted them even though their accusations were not the basis for criminal charges. Bragg's office is again accusing Weinstein of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, charges he was convicted of in the first trial. For the retrial, prosecutors added a new charge that Weinstein assaulted another woman in Manhattan in 2006. Even if he is acquitted, Weinstein will likely spend the rest of his life in prison because he was convicted of sex crimes in California and was sentenced to a 16-year term. Weinstein has had several health scares while being held in New York City's Rikers Island jail, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. Citing his health, Weinstein's lawyers are seeking a court order to let him stay overnight at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for the duration of the trial. Weinstein's representatives have said he has received inadequate medical care at Rikers. Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer representing the new unidentified victim, called the retrial a pivotal moment in the fight against sexual abuse. "More than seven years after #MeToo, this case will test how far we've advanced in our collective understanding of sexual assault, power dynamics, and what it means to be a survivor," Goldbrum said in a statement. Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicized. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
