It’s not a fancy address where Harvey Weinstein will celebrate his 70th birthday next Saturday. Only about ten kilometers east of Hollywood, but infinitely far from his former glamor world, the ex-film producer is currently being held in the “Twin Towers” prison in a seedy neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The once rich and powerful Hollywood mogul, who produced hit films such as “The English Patient”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Good Will Hunting” with his company and won an Oscar himself for “Shakespeare in Love”, has fallen deeply. In March 2020, a New York judge sentenced Weinstein to 23 years in prison for sex crimes after a jury found him guilty of charges including rape and sexual assault.
The sentence was a “warning to all sex offenders and violent partners in all sectors of society,” said then-district attorney Cyrus Vance. Many of the more than 80 women who accuse Weinstein of sexual assault were grateful and relieved.
The allegations against Weinstein, first published in the fall of 2017 by the New York Times and New Yorker magazine, sparked the MeToo movement. Around the world, many women, and some men as well, recognized their own stories in those of the alleged Weinstein victims – they began collecting these stories under the catchphrase “Me too.”
Weinstein, who now spends most of his time in a wheelchair due to health problems, has denied many of the allegations and stressed his guilt in court in New York.
The father of five could save little with it. His second wife, the fashion designer Georgina Chapman, has divorced him, the many celebrity friends with whom the ex-producer once appeared publicly have almost all distanced themselves from him, and his company is broke.
Next trial start this year?
In addition, his legal battles are not over yet. In Los Angeles, he was also charged with rape and sexual assault. In July 2021, he was transferred from a New York State prison to the Los Angeles facility where he is currently being held. He’s waiting there for his next trial.
There are 11 charges, including rape. The next hearing is scheduled for early May. The start of the process could follow this year. Until then, Weinstein will remain number 6217733 in the inmate register of the “Twin Towers” prison: gray hair, 1.82 meters tall, 113 kilograms.