Harvey Weinstein turns 70 – and awaits the next trial
It’s not a fancy address where Harvey Weinstein will celebrate his 70th birthday next Saturday. About ten kilometers east of Hollywood, but far from his former world of glamor, the ex-film producer sits in the “Twin Towers” prison in a seedy neighborhood of Los Angeles. Around 2,800 prisoners are officially housed behind the seven-story, windowless facade.
The once rich Hollywood mogul, who produced hit films like “Pulp Fiction”, “Good Will Hunting” or “Gangs of New York” with his company and won an Oscar himself, has fallen deeply. In 2020, a New York judge sentenced Weinstein to 23 years in prison for sex crimes after a jury found him guilty of charges including rape and sexual assault. The sentence was a “warning to all sex offenders and violent partners in all sectors of society,” said then-district attorney Cyrus Vance. Many of the more than 80 women who accuse Weinstein of sexual assault were relieved.
The allegations against Weinstein, first published in the fall of 2017 by the New York Times and New Yorker magazine, sparked the me-too movement. Women and some men around the world recognized their own stories in those of the alleged Weinstein victims – they began to collect these stories under the slogan “Me too”. In the course of the me-too movement, other influential people have now lost their jobs or have been accused, such as comedian Bill Cosby.
Another lawsuit in Los Angeles
Weinstein, who was born into a wealthy family in the New York borough of Queens in 1952 and now mostly uses a wheelchair due to health problems, has denied many of the allegations and also emphasized his sense of guilt in court. “I feel great remorse for all women.” The father of five could save little with it. His second wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, has divorced him, his many prominent friends have almost all distanced themselves from him, and his company is bankrupt.
In addition, his legal battles are not over. In Los Angeles, he was also charged with rape and sexual assault. In July 2021, he was therefore transferred from a New York prison to the Los Angeles facility. He’s awaiting his next trial there, his attorney Mark Werksman said. There are 11 charges, including rape. Overall, the case revolves around allegations by five women relating to the period from 2004 to 2013. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty but was dismissed with a motion to have the charges dropped. The next hearing is scheduled for early May. The start of the process could follow this year.
Until then, Weinstein will remain number 6,217,733 on the prison’s inmate register: gray hair, 6’1″ tall, and weighs 250 pounds, according to the agency’s website. Little is made public about his condition. Every person in their custody was entitled to medical care, exercise in the yard, phone calls, showers and food, the prison administration said shortly on request. Two half-hour visits per week are allowed.
Bringing along gifts such as sweets is strictly prohibited. But that’s exactly what made Weinstein the headlines recently when guards found and confiscated chocolate candies after a lawyer’s visit, according to industry publication Variety. “It won’t happen again,” Weinstein apologized. He follows the rules and regulations and is a “model prisoner”. Barbara Munker and Christina Horsten, dpa
