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Seven years after allegations against him first emerged online, Harvey Weinstein is back in court.

When the accusations surfaced in late 2017, the American actress Alyssa Milano tweeted: “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

This gave birth to what we now know as the #MeToo movement and a flood of women – famous and not – sharing stories of gender-based violence and harassment.

Weinstein was jailed in 2020 and has been held at New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison complex ever since.

Today, jury selection begins for the case against the 73-year-old, where the original charges of rape and sexual assault will be heard again.

Here we look at why there’s a retrial – and why he will likely remain behind bars – and what has happened to #MeToo.

Why is there a retrial?

Weinstein is back in court because his first two convictions were overturned last April and are now being retried.

In 2020 he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting ex-production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and raping former actor Jessica Mann in 2013.

Miriam (Mimi) Haley arrives at court in New York in 2020. Pic: AP
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Miriam (Mimi) Haley arrives at court in New York in 2020. Pic: AP

Jessica Mann outside court in Manhattan in July 2024. Pic: AP
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Jessica Mann outside court in Manhattan in July 2024. Pic: AP

But in April 2024, New York’s highest court overturned both convictions due to concerns the judge had made improper rulings, including allowing a woman to testify who was not part of the case.

At a preliminary hearing in January this year, the former Hollywood mogul, who has cancer and heart issues, asked for an earlier date on account of his poor health, however, that was denied.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
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Arriving at court for his original trial in New York in February 2020. Pic: Reuters

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When the retrial was decided upon last year, Judge Farber also ruled that a separate charge concerning a third woman should be added to the case.

In September 2024, the unnamed woman filed allegations that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a hotel in Manhattan in 2006.

Defence lawyers tried to get the charge thrown out, claiming prosecutors were only trying to bolster their case, but Judge Farber decided to incorporate it into the current retrial.

Weinstein denies all the allegations against him and claims any sexual contact was consensual.

Why won’t he be released?

Even if the retrial ends in not guilty verdicts on all three counts, Weinstein will remain behind bars at Rikers Island.

This is because he was sentenced for a second time in February 2023 after being convicted of raping an actor in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2013.

Harvey Weinstein, who was extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face sex-related charges, listens in court during a pre-trial hearing, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 29, 2021. Etienne Laurent/Pool via REUTERS
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At a pre-trial hearing in Los Angeles in July 2021. Pic: Reuters

He was also found guilty of forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object in relation to the same woman, named only in court as Jane Doe 1.

The judge ruled that the 16-year sentence should be served after the 23-year one imposed in New York.

Weinstein’s lawyers are appealing this sentence – but for now, the 16 years behind bars still stand.

Has #MeToo made a difference – and what’s changed?

“MeToo was another way of women testifying about sexual violence and harassment,” Dr Jane Meyrick, associate professor in health psychology at the University of West England (UWE), tells Sky News.

“It exposed the frustration around reporting cases and showed the legal system was not built to give women justice – because they just gave up on it and started saying it online instead.

“That was hugely symbolic – because most societies are built around the silencing of sexual violence and harassment.”

Women on a #MeToo protest march in Los Angeles in November 2017. Pic: Reuters
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Women on a #MeToo protest march in Los Angeles in November 2017. Pic: Reuters

After #MeToo went viral in 2017, the statute of limitation on sexual assault cases was extended in several US states, giving victims more time to come forward, and there has been some reform of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), which were regularly used by Weinstein.

This has resulted in more women speaking out and an increased awareness of gender-based violence, particularly among women, who are less inclined to tolerate any form of harassment, according to Professor Alison Phipps, a sociologist specialising in gender at Newcastle University.

“There’s been an increase in capacity to handle reports in some organisations and institutions – and we’ve seen a lot of high-profile men brought down,” she says.

“But the #MeToo movement has focused on individual men and individual cases – rather than the culture that allows the behaviour to continue.

“It’s been about naming and shaming and ‘getting rid’ of these bad men – by firing them from their jobs or creating new crimes to be able to send more of them to prison – not dealing with the problem at its root.”

Actress Alyssa Milano at the Emmy awards in September 2017. Pic: AP
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Actress Alyssa Milano tweeted about #MeToo when the Weinstein accusations surfaced. Pic: AP

Dr Meyrick, who wrote the book #MeToo For Women And Men: Understanding Power Through Sexual Harassment, gives the example of the workplace and the stereotype of “bumping the perp”, or perpetrator.

“HR departments are still not designed to protect workers – they’re built to suppress and make things go away.” As a result, she says, men are often “quietly moved on” with “no real accountability”.

The same is true in schools, Prof Phipps adds, where she believes concerns around the popularity among young boys of self-proclaimed misogynist and influencer Andrew Tate are being dealt with too “punitively”.

“The message is ‘we don’t talk about Andrew Tate here’ and ‘you shouldn’t be engaging with him’,” she says. “But what we should be doing is asking boys and young men: ‘why do you like him?’, ‘what’s going on here?’ – that deeper conversation is missing,” she says.

Weinstein in his heyday, pictured on a red carpet in 2015
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The former film producer on the red carpet in Los Angeles in 2015. Pic: AP

Have high-profile celebrity cases helped?

Both experts agree they will have inevitably empowered some women to come forward.

But they stress they are often “nothing like” most other cases of sexual violence or harassment, which makes drawing comparisons “dangerous”.

Referencing the Weinstein case in the US and Gisele Pelicot‘s in France, Dr Meyrick says: “They took multiple people over a very long period of time to reach any conviction – a lot of people’s experiences are nothing like that.”

Prof Phipps adds: “They can create an idea that it’s only ‘real’ rape if it’s committed by a serial sex offender – and not every person who perpetrates sexual harm is a serial offender.”

People take part in a gathering in support of 71-year-old Gisele Pelicot who was allegedly drugged by her ex-husband and raped by dozens of men while unconscious, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 in Paris. Placard reads, "support for Gisle Pelicot." (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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A woman holds a ‘support Gisele Pelicot’ placard at a march in Paris during her husband’s rape case. Pic: AP

Gisele Pelicot. Pic: Reuters
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Gisele Pelicot outside court. Pic: Reuters

Part of her research has focused on ‘lad culture’ in the UK and associated sexual violence at universities.

She says: “A lot of that kind of violence happens in social spaces, where there are drugs and alcohol and young people thrown together who don’t know where the boundaries are.

“That doesn’t absolve them of any responsibility – but comparing those ‘lads’ to Harvey Weinstein seems inappropriate.”

Dr Meyrick says most victims she has spoken to through her research “wouldn’t go down the legal route” – and prosecution and conviction rates are still extremely low.

“Most don’t try for justice. They just want to be believed and heard – that’s what’s important and restorative,” she says.

But specialist services that can support victims in that way are underfunded – and not enough is being done to change attitudes through sex education and employment policy, she warns.

“Until we liberate men from the masculine roles they’re offered by society – where objectification of women is normalised as banter – they will remain healthy sons of the patriarchy.

“We need transformative, compassionate education for young men – and young women. That’s where the gap still is.”

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Jessie J cancels tour dates ahead of second breast cancer surgery

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Jessie J cancels tour dates ahead of second breast cancer surgery

Jessie J has been forced to rearrange or cancel all upcoming tour dates as she will be having a second operation as part of her treatment for breast cancer.

The 37-year-old announced in June that she had been diagnosed with early breast cancer. She had her first operation later in the same month.

The singer, whose real name is Jessica Cornish, was due to tour the UK and Europe in October, before gigs in the US in November.

In a video posted on Instagram, she’s now told fans: “Unfortunately, I have to have a second surgery, nothing too serious, but it has to be done before the end of the year and unfortunately, that falls right in the middle of a tour that I had booked.”

The UK and Europe dates have been postponed until April next year while the US tour has been cancelled.

“So that is what it is, and I’m sorry,” the performer said. “I feel frustrated and sad, but also it is what it is, and I need to be better.

“I need to be healed, and I know this is the right decision to make. So I’m postponing the tour till next year.”

The star has asked fans to “please bear with us for the US tour”, adding that it’s “something that I want to do, but when the time is right”.

“You guys know how much I want to do all of it, but I just can’t,” she said. “And I have to be realistic.”

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Jessie J has battled numerous health issues, including being diagnosed with a heart condition when she was eight years old and suffering a minor stroke aged 18.

The singer-songwriter has had three number one songs in the UK singles chart, with Price Tag and Domino – both released in 2011 – and 2014’s Bang Bang, a collaboration with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.

She won the Critics’ Choice prize at the 2011 BRITs and bagged four Mobo awards in the same year.

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‘I’m shocked at how fragile I am still’: Cumberbatch and Colman on protecting their sanity from perils of social media

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'I'm shocked at how fragile I am still': Cumberbatch and Colman on protecting their sanity from perils of social media

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch says he’s shocked at how “fragile” he still is – despite years in the spotlight and success in the industry.

It might seem like the Doctor Strange star and The Crown actress Olivia Colman have it all when it comes to money and success – but they are also human like the rest of us.

The pair lead the cast of new satirical black comedy The Roses, which sees picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo Rose – a rising star chef and ambitious architect – raise their two children in California, while chasing their own dreams.

‘I am shocked at how fragile I am’

But behind its dark humour and comic language, the film also looks at the realities of power imbalance, insecurity and wounded pride – in even the strongest of relationships.

And 49-year-old Cumberbatch – whose character faces a major setback in his career – tells Sky News that in real life the glare of social media only intensifies those type of situations.

“I am shocked at how fragile I am still.

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“I don’t go anywhere near it [social media] because of that.

“It’s like walking into a place where people want to marry you or kill you. Those extremes.

“I think we will get to a stage, a corporate culture that’s now manifested around it where people are obliged to do that in order to sell their lives, and therefore their brand and what they do for a living.”

Co-star Colman – who’s long-shunned the online world – agrees.

Cumberbatch and Colman in The Roses. Pic: Jaap Buitendijk/ Searchlight Pictures
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Cumberbatch and Colman in The Roses. Pic: Jaap Buitendijk/ Searchlight Pictures

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“I’m afraid I am very thin-skinned.

“I don’t look at any of it. My husband will look at a review and if it’s nice he’ll show me – but if it’s anything mean he knows to just go ‘don’t look – don’t look.’

“You just have to learn to be thicker-skinned.

“But actually, I think we need people who are sensitive and kind.”

‘Don’t do it… delete it all’

Colman – now 51, and whose leading role in The Favourite bagged her an Academy Award in 2019 – says no amount of experience and success can shield her from criticism.

“My advice to a young’un – sort of dipping their toe into the world of social media for the first time is absolutely don’t do it.

“Delete it all. If you want a happy life, don’t have any of it. I’ve never had it.”

The movie – directed by Meet The Parents’ Jay Roach with The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara – also calls into question the notion of success – asking, is it really possible to have it all?

Or is sacrifice inevitable when it comes to spinning the plates of a high-flying career, marriage and parenthood?

Cumberbatch admits “you can’t do it all without there being a cost”.

“You just have to weigh up what those balances are,” he adds.

Colman says “there are I suppose little sacrifices along the way” – from both sides of a relationship.

The comedy drama offers a fresh take on Warren Adler’s novel The War Of The Roses – and the 1989 hit film adaptation- starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

Colman and Cumberbatch – both producers on the film – insist they weren’t daunted by that though.

“We wanted to find a project to do together, and we have utter respect for the iconic status of the film and book,” explains Cumberbatch.

“Hopefully this will have its own place in the culture – it’s very different, it’s not a remake – it’s a reimagined jumping-on point.”

“But beyond that, it’s very different,” adds Colman.

Former Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa and Barbie’s Kate McKinnon also form the cast.

The Roses is out in UK cinemas now.

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Top Boy and Eddington actor Micheal Ward granted bail as he appears in court on rape charges

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Top Boy and Eddington actor Micheal Ward granted bail as he appears in court on rape charges

BAFTA-winning actor Micheal Ward has been granted bail after appearing in court charged with two counts of rape.

The 27-year-old, who appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court this morning, is also accused of two counts of assault by penetration, and one count of sexual assault.

The offences relate to one woman and are reported to have taken place in January 2023.

Ward, who starred in the popular British series Top Boy and was awarded BAFTA‘s rising star honour in 2020, spoke to confirm his name, address and date of birth during a short court hearing.

He did not enter any pleas and was granted conditional bail until a further hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 25 September.

In a statement issued after the charges were announced last month, Ward denied them “entirely” and said he had co-operated with police throughout their investigation.

The actor’s film credits include Blue Story, The Old Guard and Empire of Light, as well as the current Hollywood Western Eddington.

He was also twice nominated for BAFTA’s best supporting actor prize.

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