Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein begged “please don’t sentence me to life in prison, I don’t deserve it” as he was jailed for another 16 years for rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein, 70, will serve the jail term after completing his 23-year-sentence for a sexual misconduct conviction in New York in 2020.
It is therefore highly possible he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Weinstein begged for leniency as he was handed the latest sentence in a Los Angeles court today.
He was sentenced for the rape of an actress, named only in court as Jane Doe 1, at a hotel in Los Angeles in 2013.
A jury found him guilty in December of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object.
Weinstein said: “This is a made up story. Jane Doe 1 is an actress. She can turn the tears on.
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“Please don’t sentence me to life in prison. I don’t deserve it. There are so many things wrong with this case.
“There are too many loopholes. Too many things wrong with this case.
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“This is a set-up. This is not the way to act in this situation.”
He finally added: “I beg your mercy.”
Dave Ring, a lawyer for Jane Doe 1, said after the verdict: “The sentencing today provides Jane Doe 1 with closure and relief, knowing Weinstein will spend the rest of his life in prison where he belongs.
“It took tremendous courage for Jane Doe 1 and the other victims to come forward and testify… Weinstein is out of options.”
Weinstein spokesperson slams ‘cruel sentence’
A lawyer for another of Weinstein’s victims said afterwards that the disgraced producer will now spend the rest of his life in prison “where he belongs”.
Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, has said all of his sexual encounters had been consensual and pleaded not guilty in the Los Angeles case.
Prosecutors called for a “high-term” penalty of 24 years because of the prior conviction, rather than a “mid-term” sentence of 18 years that California law would otherwise prescribe.
Louisette Geiss, one of Weinstein’s accusers, said after the verdict: “While I am disappointed that Judge Lench did not sentence Harvey Weinstein to the maximum of 18 years, no amount of time in jail will erase the damage Weinstein has caused to the lives and careers of his survivors, including me.”
Weinstein’s team opposed the district attorney’s recommendation for a high-term, consecutive sentence, given Weinstein’s “advanced age and deteriorating health”.
A spokesperson for Weinstein said after the verdict: “It’s a cruel sentence, given his age, his health and the conditions of his conviction in Los Angeles, when the sole charge was from a person who lied, with the judge and prosecutor well aware of it and permitting it, about critical elements of her own claim. It’s not justice, but a pile on for a man many people just decided should be cast off and discarded regardless of facts.”
Image: Harvey Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in 2020
The jury acquitted Weinstein of charges relating to a second alleged victim and failed to reach a unanimous verdict on charges arising from two other accusers.
One of them, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, now the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, had disclosed she was the alleged rape victim referred to in court records as Jane Doe 4.
Weinstein appealing New York conviction
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench declared a mistrial on the deadlocked charges.
Defence attorneys argued that the women willingly had sex with Weinstein because they believed he would advance their careers, part of what they said was a widespread “casting couch” culture in the film industry.
In two of the cases, they said the alleged sexual contact was fabricated.
Weinstein was convicted of sexual misconduct in New York in February 2020.
He was extradited from New York to Los Angeles prison in July 2021.
Weinstein is appealing the New York conviction and prison sentence.
Allegations against Weinstein helped fuel the #MeToo movement, which has encouraged women to speak out about sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men in certain industries.
The movement, which went viral on social media in 2017, seeks to break a culture of silence that has long allowed such conduct to go unchallenged.
A Banksy artwork, where a glass police box looks like a tank of piranhas, has been moved into protective storage ahead of its display at the London Museum’s new location.
The artwork made headlines last summer when it featured as part of the street artist’s animal-themed collection in the capital, which concluded with a gorilla appearing to lift up a shutter on the entrance to London Zoo.
The piranhas piece is now in the care of the London Museum and will be kept in secure storage before it becomes accessible to the public as part of a permanent display at the museum’s Smithfield location, which is opening in 2026.
Image: The artwork is moved from London’s Guildhall. Pic: PA
The police box had stood in Ludgate Hill since the 1990s before it was painted to resemble a fish tank.
The box was temporarily relocated by the City Of London Corporation to Guildhall Yard, where thousands of visitors viewed it from behind safety barriers, after Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the artwork.
It was later moved to Guildhall’s South Ambulatory.
Banksy’s London animals collection was made up of nine works including a rhino seemingly mounting a silver Nissan Micra, two elephant silhouettes with their trunks stretched out towards each other, and three monkeys that appeared as though they were swinging on a bridge.
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Some of the works, which also included a howling wolf on a satellite dish, were removed, covered up or vandalised, after being painted across the city from 5 to 13 August 2024.
Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, said: “Banksy stopped Londoners in their tracks when this piece appeared in the Square Mile – and now, we’re making it available to millions.
“By securing it for London Museum, we’re not only protecting a unique slice of the City’s story, but also adding an artwork that will become one of the museum’s star attractions.”
Image: The artwork after it first emerged. Pic: PA
Brendan Barns, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s culture, heritage, and libraries committee, said: “Banksy’s Piranhas are already part of City legend – and soon, they’ll be part of London’s story, too.
“Moving this piece into the care of London Museum guarantees that millions of people will be able to enjoy it, alongside an extraordinary collection that celebrates the capital’s creativity and diversity.”
Glyn Davies, head of curatorial at London Museum, added: “With the arrival of Banksy’s Piranhas, our collection now spans from Roman graffiti to our first piece of contemporary street art.
“This work by one of the world’s most iconic artists now belongs to Londoners, and will keep making waves when it goes on show next year in the Museum’s new Smithfield home.”
London Museum’s London Wall site opened in 1976 and closed in December 2022 in preparation for the move to Smithfield.
Taylor Swift has announced she is getting married to her NFL star boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
The pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared the news in a joint post on Instagram, with the caption: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
The announcement was liked more than 1.7 million times just over 30 minutes after it was posted.
Image: Pic: Instagram / @taylorswift
Swiftand Kelcestarted their relationship in 2023, after the three-time Super Bowl winner said on his podcast New Heights that he tried and failed to meet the singer at her Eras Tour concert in Kansas City.
Rumours grew that the couple were dating after Swift was spotted at a number of Chiefs games. On her seventh time in the stands, she brought her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, along.
Kelce told the Wall Street Journal in November 2023: “There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming [to the Eras Tour]?’
“I had somebody playing Cupid… She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”
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From January: Taylor cheers on Travis after Chiefs win
Earlier this month, Swift appeared on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, and announced her 12th album, titled The Life Of A Showgirl.
Speaking to Kelce and his brother Jason, Swift said it was inspired by the Eras Tour – and also talked about his attempt at meeting her two years ago.
While she said his plan to give her his number on a friendship bracelet was a “wild, romantic gesture,” she joked he “didn’t do any proper logistical planning” and thought he would be allowed backstage.
“Because he knows the elevator lady, he thought he could talk to her about just getting down to my dressing room,” she added. “That’s how it works in 1973.”
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplowsaid after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Despite rumours he would retire after losing this year’s Super Bowl, Kelce will play for the Kansas City Chiefs again this season.
He told GQ magazine his on-field performances “slipped a little bit” as he started acting, and added: “I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
Former Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan has called on men to “demand” a prostate cancer test and for the government to actively offer screenings, after his own stage-four diagnosis.
Speaking to Anna Jones on Sky News, Murnaghan said he didn’t have any of the usual prostate cancer symptoms – such as frequent or urgent urination or the occurrence of blood – but “fell very ill on a foreign holiday”.
Upon being treated by the NHS, he was diagnosed with stage-four cancer.
Pointing to how prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests are getting more accurate, Murnaghan said they should be offered in the same way as screenings for other cancers are.
“They might cost a little bit more money, but think about the money you save,” he said.
“Treating people who get to my stage, there’s an awful lot of things that are being thrown at me that are costing a lot of money.
“As in so many other cancers, if you are diagnosed much, much earlier, then of course you save money much further down the line.”
Symptoms of prostate cancer
According to the NHS, symptoms will usually occur only once the cancer has grown or spread.
People may notice changes to the way they urinate, such as:
• Finding it difficult to start urinating or straining to urinate
• Having a weak flow of urine
• “Stop start” urinating
• Needing to urinate urgently or often, or both
• Feeling like you still need to urinate when you’ve just finished
• Urinating during the night
Other symptoms can include:
• Erectile dysfunction (being unable to get or keep an erection)
• Blood in your urine or blood in your semen
• Lower back pain and losing weight without trying to (these may be symptoms of advanced prostate cancer)
He said he finished chemotherapy in early July and is currently waiting to see what the effect has been.
It comes as a coalition of more than 60 cancercharities, known as One Cancer Voice, is warning the government must take urgent steps to tackle cancer care in England – including faster diagnosis targets and better prevention policies.
According to analysis carried out by the charities, more than six million new cancer cases could be diagnosed in England between now and 2040.
This would equate to a diagnosis every two minutes, which is up from one every four minutes in the 1970s.
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Cancer cases to rise in England
Murnaghan said there is “no formal screening programme” for prostate cancer and men “actually have to ask for it rather than be offered it as so often happens with other cancers”.
In the absence of a screening programme, he said he would advise men of a certain age to “go and demand it”.
‘A real bolt from the blue’
Speaking of how he put off screening, Murnaghan said: “In my own case, I fell through those gaps.
“I foolishly sat in your [presenter Anna Jones] position for many many years speaking to people about this very issue and talking about men, particularly over the age of 50, men in high risk groups who may have a history of it in their family, to go and ask for this screening…
“And I kept thinking you know ‘once I got over that age I will go and do that’,” he said.
“I kept thinking, ‘okay well you know I’ll get round to it’, life intervenes, jobs, children, holidays…all kinds of things and I never did…
“So what happened was at the end of last year I fell very ill on a foreign holiday and kind of rushed back here to get treated by a wonderful health service and was diagnosed, a real bolt from the blue.”