In brief
Harvey Weinstein received a 15‑year prison term in New York for a criminal sexual act, following a recent jury verdict that revived earlier convictions that had been overturned. Victim impact statements highlighted the lasting trauma inflicted on former assistant Miriam Haley, who described the assault as a "devastating" rupture to her sense of security. Despite denials of the allegations, Weinstein apologized to those he may have harmed. The sentence comes amid a broader legal reckoning triggered by the #MeToo movement and reflects new scrutiny of the actor’s past crimes.
Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 15 years in New York prison after a jury found him guilty of committing a criminal sexual act against a former assistant.
Victim impact statement – Miriam Haley said the assault had a "devastating effect on my life and sense of security that may never go away".
Weinstein, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, denied the allegations but apologized to "anyone I may have hurt by my actions".
Weinstein has already spent several years jailed in New York, where he faced three trials over rape and abuse allegations. He was convicted in a separate sex‑crime case in Los Angeles.
This is the second time he has been given a prison sentence in the Miriam Haley case. In 2020 he was first convicted and sentenced, but New York’s highest court overturned the conviction in 2024 along with another involving actress Jessica Mann, citing a lack of a fair trial. He was retried and convicted again last year on a single charge of a criminal sexual act against Haley.
Weinstein, 74, is currently being held in a prison ward at New York’s Bellevue Hospital for a series of ailments reported during his incarceration.
The accusations against him sparked the #MeToo movement, and New York prosecutors have had to navigate a twisting path in securing convictions and sentences. In 2020, Haley testified that Weinstein assaulted her in a Manhattan apartment bedroom in 2006. In the #MeToo era, Weinstein has consistently denied the allegations and claims he will be proven innocent. Judge Curtis Farber criticised him in announcing the 15‑year sentence, stating: "You took what you wanted by force and you have never accepted responsibility."
