Harvey Weinstein is now a convicted rapist.
Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault in a New York court Monday, the first conviction to emerge from the dozens of misconduct allegations against the once-powerful movie producer.
The jury determined that Weinstein forced a sex act on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in July 2006 and raped former aspiring actress Jessica Mann at a hotel in 2013.
Lock him up, I never want to hear about him again.
He won’t easily go away because he is a rich white guy, so I am sure that appeals are in the cards.
I’m always amused how fast it takes for people to edit the first sentence of peoples’ Wikipedia entries.
According to his Wikipedia history, “convicted sex offender” was added at 16:55 (GMT I presume). Not sure how long after the conviction that he got updated.
Sane thing happened with Cosby.
“Same” thing. Derp.
@1, that is a Constitutional right. To object to that leaves me wondering who the true fascists are.
Would that all could afford to have competent representation in court and quality appeals.
I had no reason to think that the massive amount of evidence would be somehow be shown to be false and he would be exonerated of his bad behavior, but the court of law is a different thing. Whether Weinstein could be found guilty of a crime was, for me, a very, very open question. I assumed the prosecutors must have had a reasonable case to go forward, but triers of fact don’t consider all evidence. They consider only that evidence which conforms to the rules of evidence and which the parties to the case present. Not only that, but sexual assault cases are often very difficult to successfully prosecute.
So for me, this is a very welcome outcome. We already had every reason to believe that he was guilty of doing bad, bad things. Now we know that he is legally guilty of criminal acts. May justice be done, though Hollywood fall.
@wzrd1:
Read #1 again. johnson catman merely states facts. There is nothing in that comment that says it is objectionable to grant a right of appeal to Weinstein.
We need to be careful in distinguishing between describing a thing and endorsing/condemning a thing.
I’m sure the Jeffrey Epstein Suite at the jail is available for Weinstein’s use.
Weinstein has seemed guilty as sin to me for a very long time indeed – the preponderance of evidence against him is overwhelming. It is good to see that the justice system has come to the same conclusion. Like johnson catman @ 1, I can but hope Weinstein doesn’t weasel out of the consequences of his crimes on appeal.
Thank you Crip Dyke @6. I was merely commenting on the last sentence in the OP:
@8 I’m less concerned about the appeal than I am about him pulling a Polanski. As a rich white guy, what do you think the chances are that he’ll be out of prison pending the appeal?
Good. But I wish the more severe charges stuck. Also thank god for the death of the author.
There will be a Presidential pardon coming in 3…2…1…
Artor@12, convicted in state court. The Hair Furor is powerless in this case.
Plus, Weinstein supported Democrats, so Rethugs are happy to let him twist slowly in the breeze.
I wonder how soon he will ditch the zimmer frame ?Might get in his way if he does try and make a run for it .
I s it true that him being a rapist was an open secret in Hollywood ?Don’t know if you Americans have heard
of jimmy saville ? One of the bbc’s biggest stars ,rumours were flying about him and his fondness for young girls for years
but those bastards at the bbc didn’t do anything about it .Only came to light after he had been dead for a few years .
He was great mates with the Grantham witch ,even got him a knighthood .
He has another trial coming up in LA. And the judge is unlikely to free him pending appeal because of the seriousness of the crimes, and the pattern of behavior that suggests he is dangerous to the public. Also judge will consider the likely merit of the appeal. There doesn’t seem to be much in this case. I doubt he’ll go free.
@davidc1:
Yes. Everyone knew. Most important quote:
Good! I have zero sympathy for him. I still feel that he was using that walker to get sympathy.
It’s that there are multiple accusation that make me more sure the courts got this right. They sure as hell didn’t with the Central Park 5. Plus since I donate to the Innocence Project I hear about a lot of other bad convictions.
And all the news channels cut from covering the conviction of one rapist, right to a memorial ceremony for another.
#19 robertbaden
Of the bad convictions that the Innocence Project is addressing, how many involve old white men who recently occupied a position of considerable power? My guess would be zero.
Whywhywhy-
Probably none. Even Simpson got off.
I just get bothered when someone implies because a jury convicted someone they are guilty.
@22 robertbaden: Does it help that people generally do not believe that Weinstein is guilty simply because a jury convicted him, they believe it because they’ve heard a few of the many testimonials providing strong evidence of it, and the jury just makes that legal for journalists to admit?
robertbaden@22–
It’s a good point, but not the most appropriate moment to make it.
Weinstein’s use of the walker is grotesque.
His legal team should be ashamed.
@davidc1 Have a listen to the Catch and Kill podcast if you like that sort of thing (or the book). It’s jawdropping.
@Chigau 25.
His legal team? Shame?
“That is, hot ice, and wonderous strange snow.”
-Theseus, AMND V. i.
That faint scratching and earthy crunching noise punctuated with the occasional clanging, that’s the noise the shovels make as the reflexive rape defenders are digging up and moving the goal posts. The classic “You can’t accuse someone who hasn’t been convicted” just stopped working and I, for one, am morbidly curious to see what’s next.
Re: The walker
I’m glad to see I’m not alone in my cynicism. Since first seeing it on Weinstein I’ve been wondering if the walker is a ploy to score sympathy points or whether the stress of a lifetime of abuse finally catching up with him has actually wrecked his health. Not guilt, mind you, just the stress of having to actually face consequences. That distinction seems important.
I understand that when the warders took Weinstein away they made him leave the walker behind. He is being held in a medical wing of the jail, which is not inappropriate at first, and if he really needs one maybe he’ll get it. Yeah, I doubt it too.
He hasn’t been sentenced yet. That will be interesting. Then he will doubtless fire his lawyers, hire new ones, and appeal. This will go on for a while yet. I for one look forward to being thoroughly bored of the bastard.
The walker was far too small for Weistein and he wasn’t using it correctly, so I doubt it was prescribd by a professional.
I’m wary of criticisms of the walker. It may well have been a ploy for sympathy, but disabled people get disbelieved about our disabilities and limitations all the damn time, and I’d rather that not get added to. As with many of these things, it’s not like there aren’t much more relevant criticisms of him to make.
nice to see another good conviction of the high and mighty, not enough but good to see just the same.
I looked at him a little and i would not be surprised that he is using a walker he looks to be in sad shape, congestive heart disease? high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a bad back one step from a heart attack or a stroke is what he looks like. all that would not be unexpected but it does not elicit any pity from me . Such a waste his life and the damage he caused such a waste
uncle frogy
jefrir @ 31
Dude, I get it, but we are talking about an actor, and one who probably isn’t above using his skills to try and get pity points.
So, when will Skeptic magazine come out with an issue defending him? Actually, dont bother. I’ll follow whyevolutionistrue. I’m sure Coyne will post about it approvingly.
If you high decouple properly we can all see that Weinstein was just acting in an evolutionarily advantageous way and discussion of that point in isolation is an interesting intellectual exercise that intelligent people should be able to have without fear!
That’s Harvey Weinstein btw. Not to be confused with Bret Weinstein who will probably write the article.