Harvey Weinstein’s Me Too conviction reminds us nobody is above the law
So many feared that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein would walk free, as we have seen so many times before. But finally, the power is shifting and justice is being served, writes Sarah Blake.
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The power shift may not have been as seismic as many wished for, but the conviction of Harvey Weinstein on sex crime charges was still a big step forward.
Before, Weinstein was a major force in Hollywood who made careers and lived life big. He was top dog in his world.
He will now be remembered more for his gigantic misdeeds than his considerable silver screen achievements.
More than anything, Weinstein abused the power that he built stretching back nearly 50 years when he and his brother Bob started an entertainment business in college.
Over the years, Miramax and the Weinstein Company made masterpieces. Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Shakespeare in Love. Big time movies, huge stars, loads of money.
But there were so many victims along the way.
With no brake on his power and his ego, Weinstein clearly thought it was okay to do what he wanted, to whomever he wanted.
He saw it, he wanted it, he took it.
There was so much lassitude, so many celebrity supporters and politically powerful boosters that he sometimes he must have wondered: “Who’s going to stop me?”.
Well, in a Manhattan courtroom on a warm winter’s day, a jury of seven men and five women said: “We will stop you, Harvey”.
They convicted him of rape and he will now most likely spend many years in jail. Many are saying, even hoping, he will die behind bars.
He ended the day in hospital with heart palpitations, high blood pressure, chest pains. Possibly this was a ploy suggested by the high priced “prison consultant” Weinstein reportedly engaged several months ago in preparation for the verdict.
Weinstein had spent weeks shuffling into court using a walking frame, claiming it was hangover pain from back surgery. His detractors said it was all a put on to try to get sympathy.
After he was found guilty, Weinstein was photographed walking tall in cuffs to a waiting ambulance, convincing onlookers that the Zimmer frame was just another lie.
Looking back over the past six months, it’s clear Weinstein let his appearance go. His dyed hair and $500 haircuts from last August gave way to a grey, dishevelled bird’s nest on top of his head. He stopped shaving, allowing a salty white beard to further add to the intended image of a broken old man. His suits were baggy and unkempt.
But the women who told of his wicked behaviour did not talk of a stooped old fellow with a bent back.
Some sobbed as they told of a 300 pound (130kg) monster who pinned them down with his sheer bulk and had his way, despite their protestations.
Weinstein’s defence tried to make the argument that the women were willing participants, hoping to further their career aspirations, some of them regretting the steps they took to get there.
They presented text messages showing years-long contact between Weinstein and his accusers. In one of them, his accuser wrote: “miss you, big guy”, even after he had allegedly raped her.
Legal commentators said these ongoing contacts were problematic, that sexual assault cases prosecutions needed hard evidence, police witnesses.
The seven week trial had little in the way of this.
But the jury was convinced. They found that Weinstein used his power over women in a vile and abusive way.
A line has been drawn in New York, and further justice awaits in Los Angeles, where prosecutors have charged him with a pre-Oscars rape spree in 2013 while his then-wife was pregnant.
With Weinstein escaping the most serious charges, it may not have been the perfectly scripted ending his many detractors hoped for. But it’s a solid start, a searing relief, for the women who had risked so much to come forward and accuse the man Meryl Streep had referred to as “God”, of instead being the devil himself.
Sarah Blake is a US correspondent for News Corp.