Rosie Perez, Rose McGowan & More Stars Send Love To Victims After Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty
After Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape in the 3rd degree and criminal sexual assault, stars like Rosie Perez took to Twitter to celebrate, and express disappointment that he wasn’t found guilty on all 5 counts.
UPDATE, 2/24/20, 5:11pm ET: Rose McGowan released a longer statement on Twitter about Harvey Weinstein‘s conviction, writing, “I’m proud of the brave women who testified, they have taken out a monster on earth. Thank you to the prosecutor & jury who said not one more. Thank you to the public for examining things more deeply. I can finally exhale… For once he won’t be sitting comfortably. For once he will know what it’s like to have power wrapped around his neck. Today is not a referendum on #MeToo. This is taking out the trash.”
UPDATE, 2/24/20, 2:21pm ET: Rose McGowan, one of the most outspoken advocates in the fight against Weinstein, and one of his alleged victims, spoke out after his conviction. “Today is a powerful day & a huge step forward in our collective healing,” she tweeted.
ORIGINAL: The verdict is in: Harvey Weinstein is guilty on two of the five sexual assault charges against him. The disgraced film producer, once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, was convicted by a unanimous jury on February 24 of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual act assault. Weinstein will now face his sentencing trial; he could get five to 25 years in prison for the crimes. As Weinstein was remanded straight to prison from court, celebrities who protested against him, like Padma Lakshmi, Rosanna Arquette, and Rosie Perez solemnly reflected on Twitter about the verdict, sent love to his victims, and even celebrated just a little bit. “Harvey Weinstein is now a convicted rapist. If there’s a man who doesn’t deserve bail, it’s him,” the Top Chef host tweeted.
Perez, who testified at the trial to back up her friend, alleged victim Annabella Sciorra, was “gutted” that Weinstein was not convicted on the charges connected to Sciorra (more on those below), but still hopeful. “HARVEY WEINSTEIN HAS BEEN HANDCUFFED & TAKEN TO JAIL! GUTTED FOR MY DEAR FRIEND #ANNABELLASCIORRA WHO TOLD THE TRUTH! YET I CONGRATULATE HER & ALL WHO CAME FORWARD FOR THEIR BRAVERY. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH BUT SURVIVORS TAKE COURAGE! THIS IS STILL A GREAT WIN! CONGRATS JOAN ILLUZZI!” “Gratitude to the brave women who’ve testified and to the jury for seeing through the dirty tactics of the defense .we will change the laws in the future so that rape victims are heard and not discredited and so that it’s easier for people to report their rapes,” Arquette tweeted.
“For the women who testified in this case, and walked through traumatic hell, you did a public service to girls and women everywhere, thank you.#ConvictWeinstein #Guilty,” Ashley Judd tweeted. “Bye, Weinstein! Don’t let that jail cell door hit your fake walker on the way out,” wrote Amber Tamblyn. “I am heartened for his victims and for all those who said #metoo and #TimesUp that some justice has been done,” Elizabeth Banks also tweeted.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN HAS BEEN HANDCUFFED & TAKEN TO JAIL! GUTTED FOR MY DEAR FRIEND #ANNABELLASCIORRA WHO TOLD THE TRUTH! YET I CONGRATULATE HER & ALL WHO CAME FORWARD FOR THEIR BRAVERY. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH BUT SURVIVORS TAKE COURAGE! THIS IS STILL A GREAT WIN! CONGRATS JOAN ILLUZZI! https://t.co/LihJLiudNo
— Rosie Perez (@rosieperezbklyn) February 24, 2020
Gratitude to the brave women who’ve testified and to the jury for seeing through the dirty tactics of the defense .we will change the laws in the future so that rape victims are heard and not discredited and so that it’s easier for people to report their rapes
— ✌🏼rosanna arquette (@RoArquette) February 24, 2020
Judd Apatow had an important reminder for his Twitter followers: “Don’t forget- Harvey Weinstein faces four more charges in Los Angeles. This is just the beginning of holding him accountable.” Lakshmi tweeted again later, writing, “Weinstein terrorized and attacked women for decades. Now he will sit in a prison cell where he belongs. Sending so much love, support and most of all gratitude to Annabella Sciorra and all of the women who came forward.” Ronan Farrow, the investigative journalist whose reporting helped bring to light Weinstein’s crimes, tweeted, “Today’s outcome in Harvey Weinstein’s New York trial is the result of the decisions of multiple women to come forward to journalists and to prosecutors at great personal cost and risk. Please keep those women in your thoughts today.”
Weinstein’s behavior ushered in the #MeToo movement, as stars like Alyssa Milano, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Uma Thurman, and more accused the producer of preying on them early in their careers. Paltrow told Howard Stern in an interview that Weinstein propositioned her in a hotel room in 1999 while discussing the film that he produced and she starred in, Shakespeare in Love. After telling her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt, about the terrifying incident, the actor threatened to kill him. McGowan accused him of rape, and Thurman said that he “shoved” her down and threatened her during a meeting. Kate Beckinsale said that Weinstein starting preying on her when she was only 17 years old, when he allegedly answered the door to his hotel room in just a bathrobe and offered her alcohol.
While Weinstein was accused by 90 women in the entertainment industry of various forms of sexual misconduct, the heavyweight producer was on trial for the assaults of just two women in New York. Weinstein was charged with one count each of 1st and 3rd degree rape for allegedly raping a woman (who remains publicly unnamed) in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013. He was also charged with one count of a criminal sex act for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on TV and film production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2016, at his NYC apartment. The producer was found not guilty on two charges of predatory sexual assault in the alleged rape of Sciorra in the mid-1990s, and not guilty on the 1st degree rape charge for the alleged assault of the unnamed woman.