Latest news with #HarveyWeinstein
ABC News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Harvey Weinstein cases test the limits and legacy of #MeToo movement
It started with a viral tweet that swept the globe — but now, some are wondering if the #MeToo movement is in its dying days. For the last two months, two separate trials in New York have offered a pulse check on the phenomenon, which exposed rife harassment and abuse in the entertainment industry and beyond. Earlier this month, a jury convicted the man who catalysed the movement, filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, of one of the top charges in his sex crimes retrial. But it acquitted him of another and was unable to reach a verdict on a third. It was a split result that both sides could paint as a win. Now, a different New York jury is about to begin deliberating on the fate of rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy case. While the movie mogul started the movement, the charges against the music mogul are an indirect result of it. And just up the road from the Weinstein retrial, crowds have gathered every morning over the past seven weeks for the Combs case. Among them is a small number of #MeToo advocates like Andreea Gray. As she spoke to the ABC outside the Manhattan court, a pro-Diddy TikToker yelled over the top of her, claiming the case was all a cash grab. "I thought I would see more women and allies … here, just protesting the atrocious crimes committed against the survivors," said the New Yorker, who has been following the case from day one. In 2023, Combs's former girlfriend Casandra Ventura took advantage of a new law, which gave alleged victims of sexual violence a 12-month window to file civil claims even after the statute of limitations had lapsed. It was among several law changes sparked by #MeToo, and Ventura cited it when she sued Combs for years of alleged abuse. "With the expiration of New York's Adult Survivors Act fast approaching it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up," she said. The civil case was settled within 24 hours for $US20 million ($30 million). Months later, surveillance video emerged showing Combs grabbing, shoving, dragging and kicking Ventura in a hotel hallway in California in 2016. The rapper's homes in Los Angeles and Miami were later raided and police found guns and ammunition, drugs and large amounts of baby oil and lubricant related to alleged days-long sex marathons dubbed "freak offs". Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. Prosecutors alleged that over almost two decades, he abused, threatened and coerced women "to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct". Like many advocates, Gray fears a not guilty verdict would have a chilling effect on survivors and work to further suppress their voices. When the long-whispered accusations about Weinstein were made public back in 2017 in a blockbuster investigation by The New York Times, a movement began which quickly took on a life of its own. Days after the allegations were published, actor Alyssa Milano tweeted: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet." When the hashtag went viral, no-one could have predicted the dam that would then burst. Women were emboldened to come forward with stories of sexual harassment, abuse and assault. Powerful men fell. A system of tacit acceptance of misconduct was turned on its head. But eight years later, as Weinstein faced a New York jury in the retrial of his rape and sexual abuse case, many of those gains had been lost. And some women are left wondering if the #MeToo moment is over. Or if it even really happened at all. As they closed their case earlier this month, Weinstein's lawyers portrayed him as the falsely accused "poster boy, the original sinner, for the #MeToo movement". It's true that the accusations against him helped spark the movement and opened the floodgates for a slew of allegations against powerful men in all corners of public life. Within weeks of The New York Times report, actor Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct and NBC fired TV host Matt Lauer over harassment accusations against him. The following year, comedian Bill Cosby was jailed for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, one of his scores of accusers, and actor Amber Heard published an article in The Washington Post speaking out about domestic abuse. But as quickly as it began, the movement soon began to unravel. In 2021, the Philadelphia Supreme Court overturned Cosby's conviction and freed him. The following year, Heard lost a $US10 million defamation case to her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in a trial widely seen as undermining the #MeToo movement. The year after that, Spacey was acquitted of sexual assault charges in the UK. And last year, Weinstein had his conviction overturned on appeal — hence the recent retrial. Jennifer Mondino from the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, an organisation launched in 2018 to support survivors who don't have access to the media or the money to file a lawsuit, describes the retrial as "a travesty". "I think there was a serious error in legal judgment with the courts, and I wish that the survivors didn't have to be telling their stories again," she told the ABC. Regardless of the retrial outcome in New York, Weinstein was always going to remain a convicted sex offender in California, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2022. "It doesn't change what has already happened here," Mondino said. "Which is that all of these very brave people spoke out about their experiences with harassment and abuse by Harvey Weinstein and a jury believed them — and people all across the country believed them." Accusations of sexual misconduct are no longer political kryptonite either. In fact, arguably the most powerful man in the world, who was once caught on tape bragging about grabbing women "by the pussy", is back in the White House. A year after Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil trial in 2023, the American people elected him for a second time. In New York City, where the Weinstein retrial and Diddy trial took place, two of the contenders for mayor have faced accusations of sexual misconduct. The incumbent, Eric Adams, was accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a colleague in 1993. In 2021, Scott Stringer was accused by two women of sexual harassment. A third candidate, former governor Andrew Cuomo, who was just knocked out of the Democratic primary, resigned from office four years ago after an investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women. All three men deny the accusations against them. Advocates for the #MeToo movement argue it has brought about real change for survivors and say reports the movement are dead are grossly overstated. Mondino says, since launching in 2018, the Time's Up legal fund has supported 430 workplace harassment cases and connected more than 5,000 people to lawyers for similar matters. "I would say that the MeToo movement is absolutely alive and well and going forward," she said. "And the reason that I know that to be true is because we have survivors coming to us every day, getting connected to attorneys in our legal network." Outside the court during the first week of the Combs trial, prominent #MeToo lawyer Gloria Allred said the case was another sign the movement was far from over. "People keep saying to me the MeToo movement is dead," she told the ABC. "I don't know why they say that. There's no evidence of that and I say, to the contrary, it's alive and well and living in this country and in many countries." Allred has represented accusers against Weinstein, Cosby and now Combs, and points out there are also many confidential settlements that are never made public. "Women are coming forward. They're … not going to be silenced anymore if they believe that they have been the victims of injustice … by rich, powerful famous men." However, the rate of criminal convictions following sexual assault accusations in the United States remains low. For every 1,000 reported assaults, fewer than 30 people are convicted. Mondino admits the movement has had some setbacks but believes that's the nature of social change. "It isn't a perfect straight line. There is always going to be some victories and some losses and some blowback," she said. "When there is blowback like this, it means it's working. It means that people are really paying attention. "And so I take it not as a sign of the movement being dead, but the movement actually gaining traction."
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Bloomberg
NDAs Are Problematic. That Doesn't Mean We Should Ban Them.
When Harvey Weinstein's retrial on sexual assault charges was playing out in a Manhattan courtroom earlier this month, events were closely followed 3,000 miles away where British lawmakers were mulling a change to their own laws on workplace misconduct. As the catalyst for the #MeToo movement when his serial abuse of women first emerged in 2017, Weinstein has also sparked a debate around the use of nondisclosure agreements in jurisdictions across the western world. These are contracts between an employer and a departing employee originally designed to protect trade secrets, but which are increasingly used to cover up wrongdoing including discrimination, sexual harassment and even assault.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein guilty of one sexual assault count, not guilty of another in retrial
A New York City jury found disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of one count of sexual assault of former Project Runway assistant Miriam Haley, but not guilty of another count of sexual assault against former model Kaja Sokola, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The verdict was handed down Wednesday afternoon during a retrial after Weinstein's 2020 conviction was overturned in April 2024. There is still one count of rape in the third degree that the jury has not yet been able to reach a consensus about, but the jurors have been dismissed for the day and will reconvene tomorrow. The alleged rape was committed against aspiring actress Jessica Mann. Per THR, the first-degree sexual assault charges are a higher felony and carry maximum sentences of 25 years. The news comes after days of reports of tense deliberations, with The Wrap reporting earlier this week that a standstill between the jurors led some to begin bringing up and discussing other details about Weinstein's past that were not explicitly disclosed during the trial. At least one juror asked to be excused from the trial because he did not feel like it was 'fair and just.' Charges faced by Weinstein stem from incidents in 2006 and 2013. Haley and Sokola both alleged that Weinstein forced them to perform oral sex on him during separate incidents in 2006. Mann accused Weinstein of raping her during the 2013 incident, and Weinstein was found guilty of all three charges in 2020. In a separate 2022 trial, a California jury found him guilty of three counts of rape and sexual assault and was sentenced to 16 years. That conviction still stands, though Weinstein's legal team is currently appealing. More from A.V. Club 3 new songs and 3 new albums to check out this weekend Duster gets to the fireworks factory Bonnaroo 2025 canceled mid-festival due to heavy rains
Irish Examiner
18-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Sarah Harte: Same old crap being served up with a veneer of feminist empowerment
I was on the way back last week from moderating an event in Belfast, where we discussed the staggeringly high rates of domestic and sexual abuse north and south of the border. We also explored the obvious connection between the increasing number of increasingly younger victims and perpetrators of domestic and sexual abuse with the proliferation of porn. `Catching up with the news cycle for my column on the Belfast Enterprise train, two images in the news felt depressingly relevant to what we had been discussing at the '5 Books That Could Save Your Life' event. One was of Harvey Weinstein in a New York court last Wednesday in his wheelchair, having been found guilty of sexual assault. Weinstein was previously found guilty of rape in a separate trial in California and was sentenced to 16 years in that case. He also settled a civil case against him. At the heart of much of the testimony is the claim that, as a power player in the movie industry (he co-founded Miramax film studio), he used his "unfettered power" to abuse victims. Harvey Weinstein in state court in Manhattan for his retrial on June 5 where he was found guilty of sexual assault. Picture: Charly Triballeau via AP More generally, power and control lie at the heart of all domestic and sexual abuse cases. It is never simply a matter of the perpetrator's actions in a particular case. In the dock with him will be a deeply flawed ideology of masculinity that he has been sold from birth about his right to power and control over women. The decision by around 100 women to complain about a variety of sexual assaults and rapes by Weinstein (not all complaints ended in criminal charges) fuelled the #MeToo movement. Although it initially seemed like a watershed for the feminist movement, a backlash has been underway ever since. A counternarrative in the Weinstein case is that ambitious young women, with one eye to the main chance, took advantage of the casting couch to advance their careers. However, what that narrative does not consider is the vast power disparities between someone who is a gatekeeper and someone young, hoping to advance in their nascent film career, attending a meeting in a hotel room, crossing fingers and toes that they will emerge unscathed. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced last week that his office plans to retry the rape charge against Weinstein over an alleged 2013 attack on actress Jessica Mann. The cover of Sabrina Carpenter's 'Man's Best Friend' Album. This brings us to the second image of 26-year-old pop singer Sabrina Carpenter, released during the week to promote her forthcoming album, Man's Best Friend, which is set for release in August. On her knees, Carpenter is having her hair pulled by a faceless man in a suit (the suit presumably signifying power), mimicking a dog. This image upset domestic violence survivors and organisations, among others, including (hearteningly) some young fans who were savvy enough to decode and dislike the image. From Carpenter's point of view, who is trying to promote her album, it was successful, garnering plenty of attention and discourse on social media, where opinions seemed sharply divided. I stared at the picture and felt a fleeting moment of futility thinking "God, what's the point in sharing knowledge about domestic abuse, exploring solutions when marketing teams and photographers willingly pump this damaging crap out". The more traction images like this get, the more normalised they become. Carpenter in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine has spoken about how young female artists are picked apart publicly saying that 'girl power' and 'women supporting women' should be the reality but instead 'the second you see a picture of someone wearing a dress on a carpet you have to say everything mean about it in the first 30 seconds that you see it.' Hmmm. There is truth in what she says, but images are extremely powerful. We are more likely to remember information presented in images than information presented in text, a phenomenon known as the Picture Superiority Effect. We respond to and process visual data far faster than any other type of data. Sex positive Sabrina Carpenter's tours are big on 'horny choreography', sexual innuendoes complete with glittery bodysuits, garter belts and simulated sex. Fans lap it up. Her prerogative, you might say. Have fun, Sabrina. The whole sex positive idea that women should be free to express themselves sexually is both fascinating and complicated. Sex positive commentators would have it that cranks, often bitter middle-aged feminists past their sell-by date, try to police sexual expression and slut-shame other women. Women should be able to display their bodies as they wish. Somebody wrote on X (Twitter) that 'her [Carpenter] owning and doing what she wants with her body IS feminism'. There is something in this. I could never stand over the idea of promoting modesty to young women. I'm stone-cold on the concept of moral judgment and outrage. Down that way lies something we grew up with, or at its most extreme, what is being enforced by the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, questions like these are nuanced. There are often other dynamics behind a façade of sexual bravado, and 'anything goes' sex positivity is incredibly naïve without some component of critical analysis. Porn and violence against women The pornification of young people's psychosexual development is having disastrous effects. We see that vividly in the domestic and sexual abuse statistics. In January this year, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris spelt it out. Online violent pornography is driving much of the violence that gardaí are seeing in sexual assaults on women, rising levels of domestic violence, and normalising violence against women. Not all decisions we make around our sexuality are inherently empowering because not all decisions are made in a vacuum. The central question is when are choices rendered illusory by circumstances and socialisation? For example, you can say that a woman selling sex is autonomously doing so. Or you can dig deeper and say that no little girl says, 'When I grow up, I want to be a prostitute' so how did that little girl get there? And how did the guy who pays for her services get there? Carpenter's career is going gangbusters, but that image, far from satirising and subverting misogynistic tropes in a tongue-in-cheek way as some have claimed, reinforces them. It's up there with Nicole Kidman in 'Baby Girl', depicting a CEO down on her knees lapping milk from a dog bowl because a young male intern told her to. Fans argued the film advocated for middle-aged women's right to sexual pleasure. It received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, accompanied by whoops and hollers. To me in both cases, a filmmaker and a photographer, try to get a rise out of us using tropes from porn. Successfully so, commercially, but you wonder at what cost culturally, because they are trafficking in a retrograde misogyny that does enormous damage, reinforcing women's submissiveness to men as the status quo. Veneer of female empowerment It's the same old sexist crap dished up in a shiny new package with a veneer of female empowerment. Fine for Carpenter and Kidman, whose success may protect them, but not so much for the regular Josephine, duped by the idea of individualist agency as a shield against exploitation. It also empowers future perpetrators to feel entitled to do to the 'bitch' what they want because an expectation is created. Messages like this is why we end up with characters like Weinstein, who was allowed to use his power in open sight to access young women's bodies in a consumerist neoliberal society that believes everything is for sale, baby, and why some young women end up finding themselves skirting a line between choice and coercion in a hotel room that ends in a courtroom.
The Independent
16-06-2025
- The Independent
A suspect is in custody after 2 court officers were stabbed at a Manhattan courthouse
A man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing of two officers working security inside Manhattan criminal court on Monday, a court spokesperson said. The uniformed court officers had been assigned to the magnetometer in the southern portion of the lobby when they were attacked at around 9:45 a.m., according to court spokesperson Al Baker. Responding officers rushed to stop the assailant, subduing and disarming him before placing him into custody. The two court officers, who have not been named, sustained slashing and stabbing injuries, while three responding officers were also injured, according to Baker. He described the assault, which was captured on surveillance video, as a 'targeted attack' directed at officers working security details at the courthouse. A police spokesperson said the department has not yet released the suspect's name or what charges he faces. Spokespersons for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg 's office didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. New York State Attorney General Letitia James said on the social platform X that she was 'relieved to hear' the two court officers were stable following the attack. The 17-story Art Deco courthouse, completed in 1941, is where a Manhattan jury found President Donald Trump guilty of trying to illegally swing the 2016 election by giving hush money to a porn actor. Last week, disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted in the courthouse of one of the top charges he faced in the retrial of his landmark #MeToo-era sex crimes case.
