Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge in his first court appearance since undergoing emergency heart surgery.
The 72-year-old former Hollywood mogul was rushed from Rikers Island to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital on September 8. He underwent heart surgery after his doctors discovered “a massive amount of fluid in his lungs.” Weinstein, who arrived at Manhattan criminal court in a wheelchair, entered his not-guilty plea on Wednesday afternoon.
This new charge comes five months after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction for raping Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley.
The court ruled that the original judge made “egregious errors” in the trial by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand. Those witnesses included actress and model Tarale Wulff, who said Weinstein raped her in 2005 and actress and producer Dawn Dunning who said Weinstein put his hand up her skirt in 2004.
However, Weinstein remains convicted of rape and sexual assault in California, where his team is also appealing the verdict.
His New York retrial is tentatively set to begin in November.
More than 80 women accused Weinstein of abuse ranging from groping to rape in 2017. The former Hollywood executive denied the claims. These revelations launched the #MeToo movement as women from around the world came forward to talk about surviving sexual harassment and assault.
When his New York conviction was overturned earlier this year, sexual assault survivors and their allies spoke out.
Ashley Judd, the first Hollywood actress to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein, hit back at the court’s decision.
“This is what it’s like to be a woman in America, living with male entitlement to our bodies,” she said in April.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Haley, also condemned the decision.
“Although victims have lost this battle they have not lost the war,” Allred said in April. “We will continue to fight for justice for victims both in criminal and civil cases until there is a fair trial not just for the accused but also for those who allege that they are victims of sexual predators.”
At the height of his career, Weinstein
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