New York’s Highest Court Has Overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 Sex Crimes Conviction

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Harvey Weinstein Now: New York Court Overturns Disgraced Movie Producer’s 2020 Conviction

The New York State Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 felony sex crime conviction on April 25 and has ordered a new trial. According to NPR, the court found in a 4-3 decision that Weinstein, now 72, didn’t receive a fair trial leading to his February 24, 2020, conviction on charges of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act.

“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the decision read. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

NPR reported that the Manhattan district attorney’s office intends to retry the case, which drew national attention because of Weinstein’s high-profile career in Hollywood and its position at the center of the #MeToo movement. The disgraced movie producer was serving a 23-year prison sentence for the crimes.

Despite the court’s ruling, Weinstein will remain in prison because of a separate rape and sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles in 2022, for which he received a 16-year sentence.

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Who Is Harvey Weinstein?

Harvey Weinstein is a former movie producer and convicted sexual criminal. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob, established the Miramax Films Corporation that went on to produce critical and commercial hits like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare In Love. The brothers found more success after launching The Weinstein Company in 2005. In October 2017, media reports alleged that Weinstein had a history of sexually harassing women, including some female employees. The movie mogul became a prime example of the #MeToo movement, lost his professional standing, and was faced with a series of criminal and civil lawsuits. In 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in New York prison after being convicted of committing a criminal sex act and rape. Two years later, he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault charges in a separate case in Los Angeles. The first conviction was later overturned in April 2024.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Harvey Weinstein
BORN: March 19, 1952
BIRTHPLACE: Queens, New York
SPOUSES: Eve Chilton (1987-2004) and Georgina Chapman (2007-2021)
CHILDREN: Lily, Emma, Ruth, India, and Dashiell
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces

Early Years

Harvey Weinstein was born on March 19, 1952, in Queens, New York, as the older son of Max and Miriam Weinstein. Harvey and his brother, Bob, developed their business sense from Max, a diamond cutter, along with a love of the movies shaped through Saturday afternoon trips to the theater together.

After graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1973, Weinstein remained in the area to launch a concert promotion business. He purchased a theater in downtown Buffalo, where he began airing concert films.

Miramax and Weinstein Company Movies

In 1979, Harvey and Bob founded the Miramax Films Corporation, named after their parents. Initially designed to distribute small, art-house-type films, Miramax soon developed into a major player in the industry. Within a decade, the studio had released such critical successes as My Left Foot (1989) and Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), with Harvey serving as the outspoken face of the company.

Even after the Walt Disney Company acquired Miramax in 1993, the Weinsteins oversaw a string of acclaimed releases. Pulp Fiction (1994) and Good Will Hunting (1997) struck box-office gold, and The English Patient (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Chicago (2002) all took home the top Oscar prize of Best Picture.

The brothers departed Miramax in 2005 to found The Weinstein Company, a new venture that produced similar results. The King’s Speech (2010) about King George VI and The Artist (2011) both claimed Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards, while Silver Linings Playbook (2012), The Butler (2013), and Lion (2016) also found receptive audiences.

In late 2013, Harvey and Bob reunited with Miramax through a co-production and co-distribution deal.

As he rose to the top of the Hollywood food chain, Harvey fashioned himself as a champion of progressive causes. He was a top supporter of Democratic presidential candidates, hosting fundraisers for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Additionally, he was among the backers of a Rutgers University faculty chair named for feminist icon Gloria Steinem. However, a series of disturbing allegations soon put Weinstein in an unfavorable spotlight.

Sexual Harassment Scandal

In early October 2017, The New York Times published a report of Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual harassment. According to the Times, Weinstein had made unwelcome advances on numerous women, including actor Ashley Judd, quietly reaching settlements with at least eight of them. The story gained steam with a subsequent report in The New Yorker, which offered an account of Weinstein’s predatory behavior from Italian actor Asia Argento.

Weinstein, who initially threatened to sue the Times, brought in a team of lawyers to combat the charges. Among them was Lisa Bloom, daughter of noted feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, who rejected many of the claims as “patently false,” but also referred to the studio head as “an old dinosaur learning new ways.” Bloom resigned as Weinstein’s adviser days after the scandal broke.

Weinstein said in his defense, “I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. I have since learned it is not an excuse.”

He added he would take a leave of absence from his studio, and a corresponding statement from The Weinstein Company stated that its troubled co-founder would seek professional help as the board launched an investigation into the matter. However, amid growing accusations of alleged sexual misconduct, the board fired Weinstein on October 8, three days after the initial Times article. Weinstein technically remained a board member before later resigning from that post.

As Weinstein reportedly headed off to an Arizona rehab facility for sex addiction treatment, the dominoes continued to fall in his professional and personal lives. Famed actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie also came forward to reveal their experiences with the former studio chief.

On October 14, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors convened for an emergency session and voted to expel Weinstein from its ranks. Meanwhile, police in New York and London raised the possibility of criminal charges with the news that they were investigating some of the harassment claims.

On October 30, another Times article brought forth a new round of accusers, some of whom recalled Weinstein forcing himself on them during his days as a concert promoter in the 1970s. On November 7, the same publication reported that Weinstein had gone to great lengths to try to prevent both the Times and The New Yorker from publishing the articles that first revealed his damaging history of allegations. His efforts involved hiring a team of detectives, lawyers, and undercover agents, at least one of whom attempted to ingratiate herself with one of Weinstein’s most outspoken accusers, actor Rose McGowan.

A dramatized version of the Times investigation into Weinstein’s past, led by reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, formed the basis of their book She Said and the subsequent 2022 movie adaptation starring Carey Mulligan and Zoey Kazan.

Read or watch She Said about the investigation that led to Harvey Weinstein’s downfall

Lawsuits

On November 27, 2017, British actor Kadian Noble filed a civil suit in New York alleging that Weinstein forced her into sexual acts at his hotel room during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Because another producer from the company allegedly told Noble to be “a good girl and do whatever [Weinstein] wished,” the suit also accused The Weinstein Company of violating federal sex trafficking law “by benefiting from, and knowingly facilitating” its founder’s habit of using foreign business travels as an opportunity to coerce women into sexual activity through the promise of movie roles.

His legal problems continued to mount; on December 6, a group of six women announced they were taking legal action against Harvey and Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company, Miramax, and other individuals, alleging they were subjected to unwanted sexual conduct and lived in fear of being blacklisted. “One thing is clear: to create a permanent change in the culture, we need to send a message to the powerful and wealthy individuals, companies and industries that feted their Harvey Weinsteins, instead of protecting the victims,” said a joint statement released by the group.

Weinstein’s lawyers later sought to have a judge dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the alleged assaults took place too long ago and failed to offer facts to support claims of racketeering. The attorneys cited earlier comments from Meryl Streep about how Weinstein was always respectful in their relationship, a line of defense Streep called “pathetic and exploitative.”

The disgraced mogul attempted to keep a low profile in the following months but was back in media headlines in January 2018. Late that month, a former Weinstein assistant named Sandeep Rehal filed a federal lawsuit against the disgraced producer. Along with accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment, Rehal alleged that she was required to facilitate his sexual encounters, including providing erectile dysfunction drugs and cleaning up semen from his couch. The suit also named as defendants Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company, and its former human resources director Frank Gil.

New York Attorney General’s Suit

The next month, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against Weinstein and The Weinstein Company, saying in a release that the company “repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination.”

The attorney general’s office said it filed the lawsuit partly due to reports of the company’s imminent sale, saying it believed such a transaction would complicate matters for the victims involved. News of the legal action reportedly torpedoed a deal, with a group led by businesswoman Maria Contreras-Sweet said to be close to taking control of the studio’s assets, before backing off.

After The Weinstein Company announced it would file for bankruptcy, negotiations were rekindled and a new arrangement was reached with Contreras-Sweet’s group at the beginning of March. However, the on-again, off-again deal soon fell through one more time, after the buying group discovered at least $50 million in undisclosed liabilities. The Weinstein Company subsequently went through with its bankruptcy filing later in the month, with Lantern Capital eventually emerging as the winning bidder for its assets.

Ashley Judd Lawsuit

At the end of April 2018, Weinstein’s legal woes thickened when he was named in a Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit filed by actor Ashley Judd. The suit claimed that the studio head had torpedoed her career after she refused to accept his sexual advances by spreading lies about her professionalism. Director Peter Jackson had previously offered his account of the situation, saying he decided against casting the actor in his blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy after Weinstein called her a “nightmare” to work with.

A spokesman for the producer disputed that claim, insisting that Weinstein “not only championed [Judd’s] work but also repeatedly approved her casting for two of his movies over the next decade.”

A judge dismissed Judd’s sexual harassment claims in January 2019, ruling that she had failed to adequately support her case under the existing civil code at the time her suit was filed. However, the judge added that the actor could move forward with her defamation case against the producer.

Additional Claim and Settlements

In August 2018, a German actor filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles, alleging that Weinstein had raped her during the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. According to CNN, she was suing the producer for violation of human trafficking laws, assault, battery, and false imprisonment.

In late May 2019, Weinstein’s lawyers announced that they had reached a tentative $44 million settlement to resolve civil lawsuits over his alleged sexual misconduct, though negotiations ultimately fell apart. In December, reports of a new $25 million settlement emerged, a sum that would be paid to the alleged victims by the insurance companies representing The Weinstein Company. Additionally, the terms of the agreement precluded Weinstein from having to admit to any wrongdoing.

In June 2020, his survivors were awarded an $18.875 million settlement, as part of a class-action lawsuit. Later in September, Queen Elizabeth II revoked Weinstein’s honorary title as a commander of the British empire, one rank below knighthood.

Arrest and Criminal Charges

On May 25, 2018, Weinstein turned himself into the New York Police Department. He was arrested and charged with rape, committing a criminal sex act, sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct. Still under investigation in Los Angeles and London for alleged sex crimes, he paid $1 million in cash to post bail, surrendered his passport, and was issued an ankle monitor.

Days later, a New York City Grand Jury indicted the producer on charges of rape in the first and third degrees and a first-degree criminal sexual act. His lawyer said Weinstein would plead not guilty and “vigorously defend against these unsupported allegations that he strongly denies.”

On July 2, 2018, Weinstein was indicted with three additional felony sex charges arising from an 2006 incident involving a third woman. Weinstein was indicted on one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree and two counts of predatory sexual assault.

On January 6, 2020, the producer was charged with four new felony counts of sexual assault in Los Angeles County. District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she expected Weinstein to face the charges in California following the conclusion of his New York trial. That April, an additional charge of sexual battery by restraint was levied against Weinstein in Los Angeles, in connection with an alleged attack against a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010.

Convictions and Sentences

The same day that Weinstein was initially charged with crimes in Los Angles, his trial for rape and sexual assault charges began in a New York City courthouse. On February 24, 2020, Weinstein was found guilty on two counts: criminal sexual act against Miriam Haley and rape in the third degree. He was found not guilty on two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count of rape in the first degree against Jessica Mann.

Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in March 2020 and ordered to register formally as a sex offender. Following his sentencing hearing, he was admitted to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital for chest pains. He was then transferred to the Wende Correctional Facility outside of Buffalo, New York, where he was temporarily held in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus.

In December 2022, Weinstein was additionally convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault against an actor and model identified as Jane Doe 1 in the Los Angeles case. He was sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison. Weinstein again denied the allegations at the sentencing: “I maintain that I’m innocent,” he said. “I never knew this woman, and the fact is she doesn’t know me.”

New York Conviction Overturned

Weinstein was in the midst of serving his 23-year sentence at the Mohawk Correctional Facility when the New York State Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 conviction on April 25, 2024. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that Weinstein hadn’t received a fair trial in part because the judge allowed women to testify about allegations unrelated to the case. “It is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them,” the majority ruled.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it plans to retry the case.

Ex-Wives and Children

Weinstein was twice married. He wed Eve Chilton, his assistant at Miramax, in 1987. The couple had three daughters—Lily, Emma, and Ruth—before divorcing in 2004.

Around the time of the split, Weinstein began dating fashion designer and actor Georgina Chapman. The couple married in 2007 and had two children together: a daughter named India and a son named Dashiell.

Days after the initial New York Times investigation published, in October 2017, Chapman announced she was leaving Weinstein. Their divorce was finalized in 2021. Chapman received primary custody of their two children as part of the settlement.

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