Seven years after sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement, the ex-movie mogul faces a new sex crime charge from an accuser who’s never told her story publicly.
While awaiting retrial on other sex charges in a landmark #MeToo case, Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new charge of forcing oral sex on a woman in a Manhattan hotel in spring 2006. Prosecutors released no details about her, and Weinstein’s lawyer said he had no idea who she is.
But an attorney said that she represents the woman and that she has never made her accusation public.
“She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers,” the lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said in a statement. She said the woman doesn’t want to be identified for now, and the law firm declined to say anything more about her or her accusation.
According to the indictment and another court document, the alleged assault — the specific charge is a “criminal sex act” — happened at a lower Manhattan hotel between April 29, 2006, and May 6 of that year.
Weinstein has long maintained that he never engaged in any sexual activity that wasn’t consensual.
Defence attorney Arthur Aidala reiterated Wednesday that his client “never forced himself on anyone.” Aidala said he had “absolutely no clue” about the accuser’s identity or the specifics of the allegation.
“We have a lot of work to do. We have to find out who that person is. We have to do an investigation,” he said outside court.
The 72-year-old Weinstein, who is recovering from emergency surgery, came to court in a wheelchair.
Retrial after N.Y. conviction overturned
The once-powerful studio boss became a #MeToo arch-villain in October 2017, when reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker pulled back a curtain on claims about his behaviour, and a series of previously undisclosed payments made to women to buy their silence.
In a matter of weeks, more than 80 women had come forward with allegations, accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment or, in some cases, sexual assault. The women included Canadian actors, and a California jury heard testimony on an allegation set at a Toronto hotel during the city’s renowned international film festival.
WATCH | Explaining the New York reversal on Weinstein:
New York’s highest court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape, a landmark ruling of the #MeToo movement. Andrew Chang explains how the prosecution knew it was taking a gamble, and where that gamble went wrong.
The outpouring touched off a far broader reckoning with sexual misconduct, and the allegations led to Weinstein’s professional downfall, multiple lawsuits and criminal charges on both U.S. coasts.
His 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction was a watershed #MeToo moment, followed by his 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in that case, which is to be served after his New York criminal proceedings are resolved.
He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York in 2020, convicted of assaulting his former production assistant in his Manhattan apartment in 2006 and of raping an actress at a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
New York state’s highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction, which was based on accusations from two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, said the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony based on allegations that were not part of the case.
The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, which had been scheduled to start in November but now is likely to be delayed.
D.A. praises new witness
Curtis Farber, who is the new judge on the case, set an Oct. 2 hearing to discuss scheduling and rule on whether the new charge will be wrapped into the retrial, a consolidation that prosecutors want but Weinstein’s lawyers oppose.
Aidala said Weinstein wants to go to trial as soon as possible, but his defence team doesn’t want to rush its work on addressing the new charge.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on at least one additional sex crime charge that wasn’t part of the earlier case. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment Wednesday.
Prosecutors had said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults, in hotels and a residential building, from the mid-2000s to 2016. Aidala said Weinstein was “somewhat relieved” to find only one charge on the new indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the investigation continues.
“Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,” Bragg, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Weinstein remains in custody while awaiting his New York retrial. The 72-year-old has been at a Manhattan hospital following emergency surgery Sept. 9 to drain fluid around his heart and lungs.
Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company with his brother, Bob. Films distributed or produced by his companies amassed 81 Academy Awards, including six Oscar wins for Best Picture.