Harvey Weinstein, the fallen “God” of Hollywood who sparked #MeToo

For years he was one of the most visionary and powerful independent producers in hollywoodfeared and revered who Meryl Streep once said was “God”.

When it fell in 2017, brought down by rape allegations that lifted the lid on widespread sexual abuse in Hollywood and beyond, shock waves were felt around the world.

The movement had just been born. The movement was underway. #MeTooand thousands of women began to speak with him and uncovered frequent practices not only in the world of cinema, but at work, on the street or in transportation.

Actresses such as Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek accused him of sexual harassment or assault. Asia Argento, Rose McGowan and Paz de la Huerta, of rape. Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd claim that he ended his career because they did not give in to his harassment.

Weinstein, who never apologized or showed remorse, felt like a victim of a witch hunt by the movement. #MeToo which he compared to the persecution of communists promoted by US Senator Joseph McCarthy in the Cold War.

“I was the first example and now there are thousands of men being accused. “I am worried about this country.”he added.

His sentence by a Manhattan court to 23 years in prison, which sealed the fall to hell of the once all-powerful producer, was annulled this Thursday by an appeals court for procedural defects, and a new trial was ordered.

“With today’s decision, this (appeals) court continues to thwart the consistent gains that survivors of sexual violence have fought for in our criminal justice system,” lamented Judge Madeline Singas, who voted against the decision to annul his conviction, approved by 4 votes to 3.

“Monster”

Many women said that the angry and impatient Weinstein met them in hotel rooms, where he received them in a bathrobe and invited them to give or receive massages and to watch him masturbate.

The burly former producer, who arrived at court with a walker, was criminally tried only for the two accusations that did not prescribe: oral sex against his will to former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006, and the rape in 2013 of former actress Jessica Mann.

In 2022, another California court sentenced him to another 16 years in prison for raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel.

“For years he was my monster,” wrote the Mexican actress Salma Hayek, recounting what she experienced during the filming of “Frida” in 2002. I always told him no, but Weinstein responded with a “Machiavellian anger” and threatened to kill her.

From the ashes of the empire he built, movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up were born, encouraging tens of thousands of women around the world to denounce powerful men who have abused or harassed them on social media and unleashing a cultural change of attitude: zero tolerance for this type of behavior.

But 7 years after its birth, a new reactionary wave threatens to put an end to the achievements of that movement.

A major investigation into sexual misconduct published by The New York Times on October 5, 2017, combined with another report in The New Yorker magazine, unleashed a scandal that ended his career, his marriage and his reputation.

He was expelled from the United States Film Academy and from his own company, The Weinstein Company (TWC). In November 2017, a month after the scandal broke, he checked into a rehab center to treat his sex addiction.

His second wife, the British fashion designer Georgina Chapman, with whom he had two of his five children, divorced him.

The king of the Oscars

Born in Queens on March 19, 1952, the son of a diamond cutter, Weinstein studied at the University at Buffalo and initially produced rock concerts with his brother Bob.

The two co-founded their first film studio, Miramax, in 1979. Their successes included “Sex, lies and video”, by Steven Soderbergh (1989) and “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), winner of seven statuettes and for which Weinstein shared an Oscar for best film.

Miramax also produced Quentin Tarantino’s first hit, “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “The English Patient” (1997, nine Oscars). Miramax was sold to Disney in 1993 and the brothers left the company in 2005 to found The Weinstein Company.

Over the years, Weinstein’s films received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes. TWC declared bankruptcy last year and was bought by investment fund Lantern.

Weinstein reached a $25 million settlement with more than 30 actresses and former employees who sued him. The bill will be paid by his former company and insurance companies.