Over 100 women have accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct and rape, but the high-profile trial was based on the testimonies of six women. Weinstein was convicted Monday at his sexual assault trial, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement.
He was found guilty of criminal sex act for assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006 and third-degree rape of a woman in 2013. The jury found him not guilty on the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault, that could have resulted in a life sentence. The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers who told of rapes, forced oral sex, groping, masturbation, and lewd propositions.
For these women, testifying and recalling harrowing experiences was in itself a walk down hell again. Actress Ashley Judd thanked all the women who testified in the case. “For the women who testified in this case, and walked through traumatic hell, you did a public service to girls and women everywhere,” Judd tweeted.
Here are the six women accusers and what they said:
1.Annabella Sciorra
The actress known for her role in iconic TV series The Sopranos, was the first to testify against Weinstein in January. In an overwhelming testimony, she described to the jury how Weinstein had raped her in her New York apartment sometime between 1993 and 1994. She described the night when Weinstein barged into her apartment while she was dressed in her pajamas, and forced himself on her. Sciorra said the alleged attack occurred in the plush Manhattan neighborhood of Gramercy Park in the winter of 1993-94 after Weinstein dropped her off at home following a business dinner at a restaurant.
“He started to unbutton his shirt, and then I realised that, in his head, he wanted to have sex and I didn’t want to.” She said that she tried to push back, but he threw her on the bed pinned her hands above her head. "He had intercourse with me as I tried to fight, but I couldn't fight anymore because he had my hands locked," she told the New York jury. Afterward, Sciorra said, he forcibly performed oral sex on her, allegedly saying, “This is for you.” “I was just shaking like a seizure,” she told the courtroom.
Another time, during the Cannes Film Festival, she said she opened the door of her hotel room early morning, to find Weinstein standing in the hallway in an underwear, holding a bottle of baby oil in his hands.
2. Miriam Haleyi
Miriam Haleyi accused Weinstein of raping her and performing oral sex on her in 2006, at his apartment while he was her boss. Weinstein pushed her and pinned her down on the bed. “Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down,” she said. “At this point I realised what was happening. I’m being raped.” Haleyi was scared to report to the police at that time. She had worked as a production assistant on Weinstein’s show Project Runway.
In another incident that happened a few weeks after this, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a hotel. “He was persistent and insistent, and convinced me to meet him again,” she said. In the room, Haleyi did not resist Weinstein's advances for another intercourse and just 'laid there' she said. “I felt numb,” she said.
3. Jessica Mann:
An aspiring actress, Jessica Mann met Weinstein in 2013 and said that she had entered an abusive relationship with him and was scared to break it off because he was powerful. She became close to him after they first met at a party and looked up to him as a mentor. Over the years, he raped her and forced her into physical interactions that were emotionally and physically abusive. Mann was extremely emotional during the trial and broke down many times. On being cross-questioned about the nature of her fraught relation with Weinstein, she said: I know it’s complicated and difficult but it doesn’t change the fact that he raped me.”
4. Dawn Dunning
An actress, Dawn Dunning agreed to meet Weinstein at a hotel in Manhattan in 2004, believing it was supposed to be a business meeting. He touched her inappropriately and promised he would sign her for three projects if she was willing to do a 'threesome' with him and his assistant. She refused and got up to leave, and Weinstein said: You’ll never be a part of this business. This is how the business works. This is how actresses got where they are.
5. Tarale Wulff
Currently a model, Tarale Wulff told the jury she met Weinstein for the first time when she was waitressing in 2005. When he saw her at a restaurant, he told her she has a great look and that she should come talk to his people. Wulff told the jury that Weinstein then led her to a secluded part of the club and masturbated in front of her. She said that she later got a call from one of his executives and she went for an audition. When she reached the office, she was told, “Harvey wants to see you,” and was ushered to a car and taken to Weinstein’s apartment.
When she entered the room, he took her arms and put her on the bed. When she “I can’t.” Weinstein said “Don’t worry I have a vasectomy.” I went blank, she told the jury. “He put himself inside me, and he raped me. I just remember getting up.
6. Lauren Young
Lauren Young was a model and screenwriter when she met Weinstein in 2013, in the hopes of pitching a script with him. She was accompanied by an acquaintance who had invited her for the meeting. In Weinstein's hotel room, she was walked into the bathroom and her acquaintance shut the door on her.
Young said Weinstein turned on the shower and started undressing and unzipped the white lace dress she was wearing and began to grope her breast as he masturbated. When she resisted, he said ‘This is what all the actresses do to make it.’”
-with inputs from agencies
