Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, was found guilty on Wednesday of one count of sexual assault, while being acquitted of another, as a Manhattan jury continues deliberations on an additional rape charge stemming from his retrial.
Weinstein, 73, faced renewed prosecution for alleged offenses against two women: former production assistant Miriam Haley and actress Jessica Mann.
He was also charged with a new allegation of sexual assault by former model Kaja Sokola.
At the tense courtroom proceeding, the jury of seven women and five men delivered a guilty verdict in the case involving Haley.
Delivering the jury’s decision, the foreman said: “Guilty.”
When asked for the verdict regarding Mann’s rape allegation, the foreman shook his head. For the Sokola count, he responded: “Not guilty.”
Weinstein, seated in a wheelchair and dressed in a dark suit as he has been throughout the six-week trial, appeared largely expressionless. However, as he was wheeled out of the courtroom, he was heard muttering: “Not true.”
The judge has ordered legal teams for both the prosecution and defense not to speak to the press, as the jury continues to deliberate the remaining charge.
The verdict marks a significant legal moment for Haley, whose initial complaint was central to Weinstein’s original 2020 conviction and helped catalyze the global #MeToo movement. Her case contributed to a cascade of similar accusations from more than 80 women, many of them high-profile, who accused the once-powerful producer of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein’s fall from grace began in 2017, when multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual abuse, prompting a seismic shift in the entertainment industry. The #MeToo movement that followed exposed widespread exploitation and systemic abuse, triggering a reckoning in Hollywood and beyond.
His 2020 conviction—which carried a 23-year prison sentence—was overturned in 2023 after an appeals court found procedural irregularities related to the testimony of witnesses. This retrial has served as a second attempt to secure justice for his accusers.
