Weinstein trial: Survivors share graphic details in court

Prosecutors opening Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault retrial described Wednesday how he ignored his victims' pleas to stop and abused his position to make them "feel small."

The trial, which began with jury selection last week, will see survivors who helped spark the "MeToo" movement testify against Weinstein once more.

The former Miramax studio boss is charged with the 2006 sexual assault of former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and the 2013 rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann. He also faces a new count for an alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old in 2006.

Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey recounted Weinstein's alleged attacks in graphic detail, saying all three women had begged him to stop, but that he had "all the power... He made all these women feel small."

The prosecutor described how Weinstein pestered Haleyi with multiple requests for massages and sexual favors before she found herself alone with him in an apartment one day in 2006.

Harvey Weinstein gestures toward photographers as he attends his retrial on rape and sex assault charges at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, April 15, 2025. Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein faces a retrial starting April 15, on rape and sex assault charges for which a previous verdict was overturned, forcing survivors who helped fire up the "MeToo" movement to testify against him once again. Weinstein's 2017 conviction by a jury was overturned seven years later by an appeals court that ruled the way witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was unlawful. Photo by Steven Hirsch / POOL / AFP

"The defendant, three times her size, kissed her, groped her, and she told him again she was not interested," Lucey said.

"He pulled Mimi towards him... She quickly realized he was not going to take a no for an answer," the prosecutor added.

Lucey detailed how Weinstein then forced himself on Haleyi, performing oral sex on her despite her pleas for him to stop.

The award-winning movie producer, who was brought into the Manhattan criminal court in a wheelchair and wore a dark business suit, glanced occasionally at the jury as the trial got underway.

Lucey described the defendant as "one of the most powerful men in... show business," telling the majority-female jury that "when he wanted something, he took it."

Arthur L. Aidala, attorney for Harvey Weinstein, arrives for Weinstein's retrial on rape and sex assault charges at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, April 16, 2025. Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein faces a retrial starting April 15, on rape and sex assault charges for which a previous verdict was overturned, forcing survivors who helped fire up the "MeToo" movement to testify against him once again. Weinstein's 2017 conviction by a jury was overturned seven years later by an appeals court that ruled the way witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was unlawful. Photo by Angelina Katsanis / POOL / AFP

'Fresh eyes'

Kaja Sokola, who was not part of the previous trial, was an aspiring model and aged 19 at the time that she alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted her at a hotel in Manhattan.

Accusers describe the impresario as a predator who used his perch atop the cinema industry to pressure actresses and assistants for sexual favors, often in hotel rooms.

However, Arthur Aidala, Weinstein's defense attorney, emphasized that the prosecution's opening statement was not "the whole movie," arguing that the jury would not hear any evidence of the use of force or a lack of consent.

He said Mann had introduced Weinstein to her mother after the alleged rape, and that Haleyi had "consensual sex" with Weinstein after her alleged attack.

"Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty," he told the jury.

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein in Manhattan Criminal Court for a pretrial hearing on July 19, 2024 AFP

After opening statements concluded, witness testimonies began and will continue when court proceedings resume Thursday.

Presentation of the evidence in the retrial is expected to last five to six weeks.

Weinstein's 2020 convictions over Haleyi and Mann were overturned last year by the New York Court of Appeals, which ruled that the handling of witnesses in the original New York trial was unlawful.

The 73-year-old has said he hopes his case will be judged with "fresh eyes," more than seven years after his spectacular downfall and a global backlash against predatory abusers.

Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago.

Harvey Weinstein (C) appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for a pretrial hearing, following his overturned sex crimes conviction, in New York City, July 19, 2024. AFP

More than 80 accusers

The producer of a string of box office hits such as "Sex, Lies and Videotape," "Pulp Fiction," and "Shakespeare in Love," Weinstein has battled health issues.

He has never acknowledged any wrongdoing and has always maintained that the encounters were consensual.

Since his downfall, Weinstein has been accused of harassment, sexual assault or rape by more than 80 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong'o and Ashley Judd.

A jury of New Yorkers convicted him on two out of five charges -- the sexual assault of Haleyi and the rape of Mann -- in 2020 but the conviction and 23-year prison term were overturned a year ago.

In a hotly debated four-to-three decision, New York's appeals court ruled that jurors should not have heard testimonies of accusers in alleged sexual assaults for which Weinstein was not indicted.