Harvey Weinstein: Key moments in the Los Angeles trial of the disgraced film producer
Harvey Weinstein had been charged with raping and sexually assaulting two women and committing sexual battery against two others.
After a month of evidence from 44 witnesses in Los Angeles, a jury has found Weinstein guilty of one count of rape.
He was found not guilty of sexual battery by restraint of another woman.
The jury was also unable to reach verdicts on allegations linked to two other women.
Currently two years into a 23-year sentence for previous convictions on rape and sexual assault charges in New York, Weinstein was held in jail throughout his latest trial.
The Los Angeles trial was widely viewed as symbolic – but it assumed greater significance in light of the producer being granted permission to appeal against his New York convictions.
The 70-year-old was charged with crimes against four of the witnesses who testified.
Three of the women – a model, a model/actress, and a massage therapist – gave evidence anonymously.
Filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California governor Gavin Newsom, waived her right to anonymity.
The jury were unable to reach verdicts on charges relating to Newsom.
Four other women who are not involved with the charges also told the court that Weinstein sexually assaulted them.
Here are the key moments from the trial:
The defence
Weinstein’s lawyer told the trial that the prosecution case relied entirely on asking them to trust women whose evidence showed they were untrustworthy.
In his closing arguments, Alan Jackson said: “‘Take my word for it’. Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case.”
Weinstein’s lawyer Alan Jackson argued the prosecution case was ‘smoke and mirrors’. Pic: AP
Everything else prosecutors presented “was smoke and mirrors”, he argued.
Mr Jackson urged jurors to look past the drama and emotion of the testimony of the four women, and focus on the factual evidence.
He said jurors were being asked to “believe us because we’re mad, believe us because we cried”, adding: “Well fury does not make fact. And tears do not make truth.”
Mr Jackson said the stories of two women who Weinstein was alleged to have sexually assaulted on consecutive days in 2013 “simply never happened”.
The defence lawyer also said the alleged rape and assault of the other two women in 2005 and 2010 were “100% consensual” encounters that the women engaged in for the sake of career advancement that they later became “desperate to relabel” as non-consensual.
“These were women with whom Harvey had transactional relationships and transactional sex,” he said.
Mr Jackson argued that the women were willing to exchange sex for favours or status when the incidents happened in 2005 and 2010, but after the #MeToo explosion around Weinstein with stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2017, they were regretful.
“They played the game. They hate it now, unequivocally,” he said. “But what about then? What about before the 2017 dogpile started on Mr Weinstein?”
He stressed the importance of the judge’s instruction, that if jurors found any significant thing a witness said was untrue, they should consider disbelieving everything the witness said.
The prosecution
Prosecutors, closing their case, branded Weinstein a “predator” and a “degenerate rapist”.
Deputy district attorney Marlene Martinez emphasised the similarities between his accusers’ testimony.
“They all describe the same conduct by the same man,” she said.
After arranging to meet with a woman at a hotel he would find a way to get them to his suite where he would then go from “charming and complimentary to aggressive and demanding”.
Ms Martinez said: “For this predator, hotels were his trap.
“Confined within those walls, victims were not able to run from his hulking mass.
“People were not able to hear their screams, they were not able to see them cower.”
She urged jurors to complete Weinstein’s fall from grace by convicting him in California.
She said: “It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end.
“It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”
Prosecutors branded Weinstein a ‘predator’ and a ‘degenerate rapist’
‘I was kind of hysterical through tears’
The first of Weinstein’s accusers, a model and actress who was in LA for a film festival at the time she was raped by the producer in 2013, told the court he knocked on her hotel room door and she let him in.
She said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on her hotel bed. “I was kind of hysterical through tears,” she said. “I kept saying ‘no, no, no’.”
She said she physically feared Weinstein, who outweighed her by 100 pounds or more, and considered running or hitting or biting him.
She said by the time Weinstein took her into the bathroom to rape her, she had stopped physically resisting, though still objected verbally. “I would just freeze, like my body wouldn’t listen.”
He was found guilty of three counts, including rape.
Woman testifies for second time
Just one woman who gave evidence during the New York trial has testified in LA. The model, who was aspiring to be a screenwriter, had set up a meeting with Weinstein about a script she was working on in 2013, the court heard.
She described Weinstein as a “monster”, and said he led her into a bathroom, quickly took off his suit and got briefly in the shower, then stepped out and blocked her from leaving.
“I was disgusted,” she said. “I had never seen a big guy like that naked.”
She said she backed up against a sink and turned away from him. He then unzipped her dress and groped her with one hand as he masturbated with the other, the court heard.
The jury did not reach a verdict on this count.
Masseuse tells court ‘I was in shock’
A massage therapist accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 2010, when she was 28, after he hired her to go to his hotel room for a treatment.
When she was in the bathroom washing her hands following the massage, she said Weinstein entered, blocked the door, and began masturbating in front of her.
She began to cry as she told the court: “I was terrified.” Weinstein blocked the door and pushed her against a wall and groped her breasts before finishing, the court heard.
“I was in shock. I felt frozen, I felt paralysed,” she said.
The jury found Weinstein not guilty of sexual battery.
Filmmaker cries as she tells of alleged rape
Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Pic: AP
In an emotional testimony, Ms Siebel Newsom, 48, told the court she was 31 when she was allegedly attacked by Weinstein during what she thought was a business meeting to try to build her career in 2005.
Spending two-and-a-half hours on the witness stand, she was in tears as she told the court she found herself unexpectedly alone with the Hollywood mogul in a hotel suite.
Asked to describe her feelings after Weinstein allegedly emerged from the bathroom in a robe and began groping her while he masturbated, she said: “Horror! Horror! I’m trembling. I’m like a rock, I’m frigid. This is my worst nightmare.”
Ms Siebel Newsom said she told Weinstein that “this was not why I came here” as she physically tried to back away.
The jury did not reach verdicts on these counts.
Can the influence of celebrities sway voters when it comes to the US election?
With many of the biggest music and movie stars in the world backing her, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will certainly be hoping so.
Democrats have long enjoyed a celebrity advantage, which has only grown during Republican Donald Trump‘s rise in politics. However, as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign showed, star power is not always enough.
According to a recent YouGov poll, about one in 10 Americans (11%) say a celebrity has ever caused them to reconsider their stance on a political issue, while 7% say they have supported a political candidate because of a celebrity endorsement.
As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, here are the stars backing each of the two candidates – starting with Ms Harris.
The Avengers
In a clip shared by Hulk star Mark Ruffalo on social media, the Avengers assembled to show their support for Ms Harris.
Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson, Captain America star Chris Evans, and Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr all feature in the video, along with Don Cheadle and British star Paul Bettany.
Ruffalo cited climate change, education and women’s reproductive rights among the issues voters should consider.
“We’re back,” he captioned the post. “Let’s #AssembleForDemocracy. In the #ElectionEndgame, every vote counts.”
Taylor Swift
Pic: Janet Mayer/ INSTARimages/ Cover Images/ AP 2024
The pop mega star confirmed her support for Ms Harris in September, posting a picture of herself holding her cat Benjamin Button – a reference to Mr Trump’s running mate JD Vance’s “childless cat lady” comments.
Swift told her 283 million followers: “I’m voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
In response, Mr Trump said Swift would “probably pay a price” for her comments.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Pic: AP
The action movie star is a former Republican governor of California.
However, he has said he is voting for the Democrats this time, saying: “I will always be an American before I am a Republican.”
In a lengthy post on social media, Schwarzenegger said he did not “like either party right now” and that he does not “really do endorsements”, but felt he had to speak out.
He went on to harshly criticise Mr Trump for rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential vote, saying this was as “un-American as it gets”.
He ended by saying the country needs to “close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger.”
Jennifer Lopez
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘You can’t spell American without Rican’
The actress and singer spoke out during a Democratic rally in Las Vegas, criticising comments made during a Trump rally about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage”.
“You can’t even spell American without Rican,” she responded.
Lopez told supporters she was “an American woman” and a “proud daughter and son of Puerto Rico”.
Madonna
Pic: Reuters
Pop royalty Madonna revealed she returned home to the US following a trip to Paris to vote for Ms Harris.
Alongside a selection of photos of her time in the French capital, the singer, 66, posted on social media: “Paris was so fun! It was hard to leave, but I had to come home to VOTE Kamala Harris for president!!!!”
Beyonce
Pic: AP
Beyonce appeared at a Democratic rally in Houston, Texas, in October, telling voters: “We need to sing a new song.”
The star said she was not attending the event as a celebrity, but was there “as a mother”.
She added: “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
Charli XCX
Pic: Reuters
Earlier in the year, Ms Harris embraced the social media trend of a “brat summer”, inspired by British pop star Charli XCX‘s latest album, Brat.
It came after the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, wrote in a post on X: “kamala IS brat”.
She later told New York Magazine: “To be on the right side of democracy, the right side of women’s rights, is hugely important to me… I’m happy to help to prevent democracy from failing forever.”
Brat has now been named word of the year by Collins, which said it inspired a lifestyle “characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”.
Bruce Springsteen
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Springsteen calls Trump a ‘tyrant’
Rock icon Bruce Springsteen is also among the stars who have appeared at Democratic rallies.
Performing on stage in Clarkston, Georgia, he used time between his numbers to argue Ms Harris will protect democracy and fight for women’s reproductive rights.
“He does not understand this country, its history or what it means to be American,” Springsteen said of Mr Trump.
Eminem
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Obama raps Eminem
The rapper attended a rally in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, where he introduced Barack Obama.
The former president joked he had “noticed my palms are sweaty” before rapping several lines from the Grammy award-winning artist’s hit song Lose Yourself.
Eminem told the crowd Ms Harris “supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld”.
Pic: Reuters
Billie Eilish, Jennifer Aniston, Samuel L Jackson, Spike Lee and Cher are also among the stars who have endorsed Ms Harris.
Mr Trump’s famous backers might not be as starry, but he has several who hold a deep appeal with his core base of voters.
Here are some of the big names who are supporting the former president.
Elon Musk
Pic: AP
The tech billionaire has donated $75m (£58m) to a campaign group he set up to support Mr Trump’s presidential bid.
Musk previously supported the Democrats but has become a vocal backer of Mr Trump in recent months, and joined the Republican candidate on stage at a rally in Pennsylvania.
At the event, Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, jumped around on the stage and described the election as a “must-win situation”.
Hulk Hogan
Pic: Reuters
The wrestling star is among the celebrities publicly endorsing Mr Trump, appearing at the Republican National Convention in the summer and at a rally in New York last month.
He told “Trumpamaniacs” at Madison Square Garden that he had won heavyweight titles and body-slammed “giants” there, but the energy at the rally was “something like I’ve never felt”, and “the most powerful force in the universe”.
The retired wrestler, whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, has shared several photographs of himself and Mr Trump on social media.
Mel Gibson
Pic: AP
Hollywood star Mel Gibson will reportedly be voting for Mr Trump.
According to US entertainment site TMZ, when asked about the election, the actor replied: “I don’t think it’s going to surprise anyone who I’ll vote for.”
He said voting for Mr Trump would be “a pretty good guess”, and reportedly added: “I know what it’ll be like if we let her in and that ain’t good. Miserable track record – appalling track record. No policies to speak of. And she’s got the IQ of a fence post.”
Dennis Quaid
Pic: AP
The US actor, known for films including The Parent Trap and The Day After Tomorrow, gave a speech at a Trump rally in Coachella, California, in October.
“It’s time to pick a side,” he told the crowd. “Are we gonna be a nation that stands for the constitution? Or for Tik-Tok?
“Are we gonna be a nation of law and order? Or wide open borders?”
Jon Voight
Pic: Reuters
Veteran actor Jon Voight, who is Angelina Jolie’s father, has long been a supporter of Mr Trump.
In a video shared on social media, he told his followers: “We’re now in a time of the darkest plague ever. And our chance, our only chance, is this November.”
Voight accused Hollywood peers supporting Ms Harris of “putting out videos trying to brainwash the American people to do the most dangerous vote ever”.
Jake Paul
Pic: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages/ Cover Images/ AP
YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul has also shared a video message endorsing Mr Trump.
He captioned the clip, “Who I’m supporting for president and why you should too…” but began by saying he had been “nervous, scared” to make it because of potential repercussions for his career.
Encouraging his followers to do their own research and not just listen to “your favourite pop star”, he said he had rescinded his right to vote after moving to Puerto Rico for his boxing career – but that he wanted to present his millions of followers “with proper facts, numbers and data to encourage them to vote in the proper direction to quite literally save America”.
Things “don’t feel right” in the US at the moment, he said, which shows “that we are more divided than ever”. He added: “What is the problem? Democrats have been in power for 12 of the last 16 years, so if we aren’t happy… then who is to blame?”
Kelsey Grammar
Pic: AP
The Frasier star – who has reportedly spoken of his support for Mr Trump in the past – was asked about being a Republican in Hollywood in an interview with the New York Times in September.
“For me to be anything else would be a problem,” he replied. “I don’t go along with a lot of what is preached in Hollywood. I go along with what is preached in Christianity. I go along with do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
“And I believe in all people: I believe in their desires and their lives and their worth. I want to make shows about that. I don’t want to hate anybody.”
Kid Rock
Pic: AP
The musician has appeared at several Trump rallies and has been vocal in his support for the Republican presidential candidate on social media.
In a recent video, he responded to Eminem’s support for Ms Harris, saying he had been friends with the rapper for years but he does not agree with his politics.
He credited both Eminem and “people like Taylor Swift for standing up and not being afraid to be vocal”, but said his stance is “unequivocally MAGA, because I know in my heart, mind, body and soul that President Trump will make America great again”.
Entertainment
‘Amateurish’ thieves steal Andy Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth II – but ‘can’t fit other stolen pictures in getaway car’
“Amateurish” thieves have made off with a screen print of Queen Elizabeth II by Andy Warhol as part of a botched gallery heist in the Netherlands.
The thieves blew open the gallery doors, stealing two works from the iconic American pop artist, the gallery’s owner Mark Peet Visser said.
Another two prints were left badly damaged in the street after the thieves discovered they wouldn’t fit in the getaway car, he added.
The heist was captured on security cameras, Mr Visser said, describing the whole thing as “amateurish”.
The gallery owner said “the bomb attack was so violent that my entire building was destroyed” and nearby stores were also damaged.
Thieves also seized a screen print depicting Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. File pic: AP
“So they did that part of it well, too well actually,” he added.
“And then they ran to the car with the prints and it turns out that they won’t fit in the car.
“At that moment the works are ripped out of the frames and you also know that they are damaged beyond repair, because it is impossible to get them out undamaged.”
The thieves struck the MPV Gallery in the Dutch town of Oisterwijk early on Friday.
Mr Visser said they were attempting to steal four works from a 1985 Warhol series called Reigning Queens.
The series featured portraits of the then queens of the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland, which is now called Eswatini.
The thieves got away with the portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Margrethe II of Denmark, Mr Visser said.
But the prints of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Ntombi Tfwala, who is now known as the queen mother of Eswatini, were abandoned.
Read more from Sky News:
The celebrities backing Trump or Harris
British singer influences word of the year
Arrest after burglary at Ben Stokes’s home
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Mr Visser has not put a value on the signed and numbered works, which were due to go on sale as part of an art fair later this month.
Forensic experts have scoured the badly damaged gallery and Dutch police are appealing for witnesses.
Entertainment
Eddie Redmayne says preparing for The Day of the Jackal role almost ended in off-set disaster
Eddie Redmayne says he nearly ended up in hot water off-set whilst filming new Sky Atlantic show The Day of the Jackal.
Speaking to Sky News about the challenges of modernising Frederick Forsyth’s acclaimed novel, the Oscar-winning actor said it took months of intensive preparation to play a character that assumes a range of different ages and nationalities.
“What’s interesting about the Jackal is in some ways he is an actor and this whole series was a kind of actor’s playground,” he explained.
“I am a sucker for process… so it was languages, it was prosthetics, different costumes… and then all the gun work as well… I had about three or four months prepping, and it was pretty fun.”
From the first episode, the actor was required to casually be able to construct a gun out of the internal workings of a wheelie case. While he’d already been given advanced weapons training, his eagerness to take props home to practice could have nearly ended in his arrest.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Eddie Redmayne’s kids want him to play a ‘goodie’.
“There is a moment at which the Jackal constructs this rifle…it is a beautiful bit of prop design…and I’m a really shoddy prop actor, so in Budapest, I asked the prop master if I could take home this case with me to work on it in the hotel,” he said.
“I was in the midst of eating some goulash and I suddenly went ‘Argh’ as I realised that I had left this gigantic sniper’s rifle – and the hotel was basically the equivalent of Trafalgar Square – pointing out a window and it was about to be the turndown service.
The Jackal getting out of one of his disguises. Pic: Sky UK
Pic: Sky UK/ Carnival Film & Television Limited 2024
“I remember running down the corridor and the person that works in the hotel pushing down the towels [trolley] and some extra little toiletries and I just barged through the door and deconstructed this thing… otherwise that could have been a moment because it looked pretty persuasive.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Keeping the action mostly contained onscreen, the star acknowledges it is a risky gamble to attempt a modern reboot of a much-loved classic.
He explained: “I loved it since I was a kid and so when the scripts arrived in my inbox there was definitely a moment of trepidation.”
Lashana Lynch plays an intelligence officer hunting down the Jackal. Pic: Sky UK
Forsyth’s acclaimed novel has had many lives since it came out in the early 70s, but the 1973 film version is how most people will remember the cat and mouse thriller, including its leading man.
“The original film was very much a binary sense of good and evil,” Redmayne said.
“We live in a world now, certainly in social media, in which things dictate that there is a right and a wrong and the grey territory is harder to navigate, I suppose… the series makes some sort of gestures towards that.”
Redmayne alongside co-star Ursula Cobero. Pic: Sky UK/ Carnival Film & Television Ltd 2024
In the 10-part TV Sky Atlantic series, viewers will see that the Jackal is still an elite assassin carrying out a seemingly impossible hit. But, in this version, James Bond star Lashana Lynch plays an intelligence officer hunting him down.
The show takes in the rise of right-wing extremism, tech megalomaniacs and themes of assassination.
With the attempt on the life of Donald Trump, and a terrifying cycle of violence and assassination in the Middle East, there is something that feels eerily prescient about the timing of the modern reboot.
“What the series does [show] is that there’s ambiguity in everyone and I feel that that’s kind of where we’re at slightly in the world,” Redmayne said.
The Day Of The Jackal cast at the London premiere. Pic: PA
Read more:
Eddie Redmayne says his dad told him not to ‘screw up’ role
The film opening the conversation about sex work
For the actor, the final pulse-raising moment will be finding out what fans and his family make of the drama, not that he’ll be tuning in personally.
“Truth be told, nothing would pain me more than watching myself on screen, so I won’t be doing that… but I will be encouraging my family to watch it… it was my dad’s favourite film,” he said.
The Day of the Jackal is out on Sky Atlantic and NOW on 7 November.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway