Harvey Weinstein found guilty at rape trial

Film mogul faces prison time, as verdict may encourage more women to come forward after abuse and change the way crimes are prosecuted

Ed Pilkington in New York

 @edpilkington

Mon 24 Feb 2020 16.42 GMT

Harvey Weinstein, the fallen titan of Hollywood whose sexual abuse of aspiring young female actors sparked the #MeToo movement, has finally been brought to justice after a New York jury found him guilty.

The movie mogul’s epic fall from grace is now complete, toppled from the pinnacle of independent cinema where he helmed films such as Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, amassing a total of 81 Oscars. The glamorous Manhattan and Los Angeles lifestyle he once enjoyed will soon be replaced by a New York state prison cell as he faces jail time.

The jury of seven men and five women at the New York supreme court took five days to reach their verdict.

The conviction marks the final comeuppance for a towering figure who wielded his power in the movie industry – as well as his commanding physical presence – over vulnerable young women seeking his help.

Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood and the US media

How Hollywood and the media failed to expose Harvey Weinstein. Plus, how the CIA and the Pentagon manipulate the movies.

Weinstein, Hollywood and the media

In Hollywood, it was one of those open secrets, something widely known that no one was prepared to say out loud. Harvey Weinstein, one of the most successful producers in the movie business, is a serial sex abuser, using his immense power and influence to force women - staff, interns, but mostly actresses - to succumb to his will.

But why has something that took place over decades not been reported until now?

We examine what the Harvey Weinstein story - the one the US media failed to report until now - says about the relationship between the film industry and the news business.