Disgraced former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on new sex crime charges in New York, adding to his ongoing legal troubles. This development comes ahead of Weinstein’s retrial in his landmark #MeToo case, where his 2020 rape conviction was overturned earlier this year. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office revealed the indictment on Thursday, with Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg noting that multiple new accusers are prepared to testify against Weinstein.
Weinstein, who is currently recovering from emergency heart surgery at a Manhattan hospital, was not present at the hearing. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, stated that Weinstein’s legal team has yet to receive details regarding the specific accusations, locations, or timing of the new charges, as the indictment remains under seal.
The retrial, currently scheduled for November 12, follows New York’s highest court’s decision in April to overturn Weinstein’s original conviction. Prosecutors have also been presenting new allegations from the mid-2000s to a grand jury, suggesting that some of these may be part of the latest charges. The prosecution hopes to combine these new charges with those from the original trial, though Weinstein’s defense team plans to challenge this effort.
Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company, continues to maintain that any sexual encounters were consensual. Despite the overturned conviction in New York, Weinstein was convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022 and is currently serving a 16-year sentence for that case, though his lawyers have filed an appeal.
Weinstein’s legal journey continues as his health and legal battles intertwine, with his defense team requesting that he remain at Bellevue Hospital for the foreseeable future rather than returning to Rikers Island, where he has been held during the proceedings.
Weinstein’s retrial, along with the new charges, represents another significant chapter in the ongoing fallout from the #MeToo movement, which first gained momentum following numerous allegations against him.
