Source: New York Daily News / Getty
Today, famed movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for two of his many alleged sexual crimes.
According to The New York Times, 20 years were for a felony attack against Miriam Haley. Haley testified that in 2006, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. The additional three years were for the 2013 rape of Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress.
Haley said about the incident, “He violated my trust and my body and my personal right to deny sexual advances.”
Mann said she’s hopeful for a “future where monsters no longer hide in our closets.”
Weinstein was given a chance to speak during the proceedings. He said that he believed his interactions with the women was consensual and said he was totally confused, as he believes many other men grappling with #MeToo to be.
He did express remorse.
“We may have different truths, but I have remorse. For all of you and for all the men and women going through this crisis right now in this country. I really feel remorse for this situation. I feel it deeply in my heart. I’m really trying, I’m really trying to be a better person.”
But for the judge in the case, Justice Burke, the remorse wasn’t enough to inspire any leniency in terms of sentencing.
Burke said, “Although this is a first conviction, it is not a first offense. There is evidence before me of other incidents of sexual assault involving other women.”
Hours after his sentence was handed down, the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles announced that they had begun the process of extraditing Weinstein to California to face additional sexual assault charges there. He is accused of attacking two women in February 2013.
For years now, the accusations against Weinstein and the fact that he had yet to be prosecuted served as a defense for Black men who had been accused of similar crimes: men like Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. Now that Weinstein has been sentenced to decades in prison, you can see what the people have to say about the comparisons which were less about accountability for all sexual predators and more about wanting all guilty men to walk free.
See what they had to say on the following pages.
