The saga of Harvey Weinstein seems to be coming to an end, as the disgraced former movie publisher has been sentenced to 23 years in NY prison. Weinstein was charged for third-degree rape and a criminal sex act as he maintained he simply had consensual “extramarital affairs” with the victims. For a more detailed breakdown of the case, you can take a look at our article.
Harvey Weinstein John Minchillo / AP file
On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the jury ruled to sentence Weinstein to a 23 years sentence to be served in a NY prison. Weinstein was convicted on February 24. Before Wednesday’s final hearing, Weinstein was caught reportedly telling the court he was going through “hell on earth” and was “really trying to be a better person,” this was his final attempt to try to recive a lighter sentence.
Before issuing his sentence, Judge Burke told Weinstein that he will be formally registered as a sex offender. For his conviction on the first-degree count of criminal sexual act, Weinstein was given 20 years in prison plus five years of supervised release. On the other convicted charge, third-degree rape, he was given three years in prison.
Before the sentencing Weinstein attorney Donna Rotunno told the judge, “Mr. Weinstein has a multitude of medical issues, there are lists of things that are physically wrong with him and are serious,” said Rotunno, reading a letter highlighting his medical issues. “Mr. Weinstein has a history of heart disease in his family. This is a situation that the loss of freedom…will affect his ability to get the type of medical care he will need for the list of issues he is dealing with.”
In response to the sentencing, Tina Tchen, president and CEO of the Time’s Up Foundation, issued the following statement: “First and foremost, we are grateful for the courage and strength of Mimi Haleyi, Jessica Mann, Annabella Sciorra, Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff, and Lauren Young, who bravely testified in court, and we remain in solidarity with the more than 100 survivors who suffered abuse, harassment, and rape at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. The trauma of sexual assault and harassment is lifelong — we can only hope that today’s sentence brings all of the survivors of Harvey Weinstein some measure of peace.”
The statement continued: “We also hope that these women take pride in knowing the impact they have had on our culture at large. Whether by inspiring more survivors to come forward and seek help, changing how the justice system responds to sexual violence, or leading corporate boards to hold more CEOs accountable for toxic workplace culture, the social change catalyzed by these survivors has been nothing short of transformational.”
As mentioned before in our other article, the trail of Harvel Weinstein is one of the most significant movements of the last five years. Not only to the film industry, but the #METOO has had a long-lasting effect on business and politics. While the end of Weinstein’s trial marks the end of what started this movement, the #METOO movement is still going forward and will be seen as an essential movement in our culture going forward.
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