Ashley Judd says overturning Harvey Weinstein’s conviction is ‘unfair to survivors’

Actress Ashley Judd called it “unfair to survivors” after a court overturned Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction in 2020.

Double Jeopardy star Judd, who was among the first women to come forward with official allegations against Weinstein, is also an advocate for women’s rights.

While sharing a post claiming Weinstein’s 23-year prison sentence for rape had been overturned in an Instagram Story, Judd wrote: “This is unfair to the survivors. We live in our truth. We know what happened.

Hollywood producer Weinstein remains in prison after being sentenced to 16 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles.

Judd previously claimed she was thinking of attending a hotel breakfast in 1997, while filming the thriller Kiss The Girls, when he began pressuring her to give and receive massages and she watches him shower.

In an effort to get out of the bathroom, she claims to have made a deal with him that she would say yes to his advances when she won an Oscar for one of his films.

Speaking at a news conference in New York on Thursday, Judd said: “Today is an act of institutional betrayal.

“And our institutions are failing survivors of male sexual violence, and we need to work inside and outside of systems to start having what we call ‘institutional courage.’

She also told the BBC: “Often survivors say that the betrayal and moral harm we experience within the system is worse than the sexual invasion of the body we experienced in the first place.”

“But we live in our truth,” she added.

Activist Tarana Burke, who started the #MeToo movement, also spoke at the event and said: “Many people, many survivors and those who love and support survivors probably thought that this initial verdict meant that there was going to be a change, that there was going to be a change. marked a change, a difference in the way this justice system would evolve and operate.

“And I think we felt, and many of us did, that we were on the right path to seeing a different America.” And this moment feels like we were wrong.

She added: “What does this mean for the MeToo movement? »

“I want you to hear this. This is not a blow to the movement. It’s a clarion call. And we are ready to answer this call.

In a scathing dissent to the appeals ruling, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the appeals court was continuing a “disturbing trend of overturning jurors’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.” She said the decision was made “at the expense and safety of women”. In another dissent, Justice Anthony Cannataro wrote that the decision “put at risk decades of progress in this incredibly complex and nuanced area of ​​law” regarding sex crimes after centuries of “deep patriarchal and misogynistic legal tradition.” » The allegations against Weinstein, the once-powerful and feared studio head behind Oscar-winning films like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare In Love, marked the start of a global #MeToo movement in 2017, where women around the world shared their own stories. experiences of sexual assault.

In 2019, the United States District Court in Los Angeles dismissed a sexual harassment complaint filed by Judd against Weinstein in which she claimed he defamed her, harming her career.

Mira Sorvino, who previously made allegations against Weinstein and won an Oscar for The Mighty Aphrodite, tweeted that she was “disgusted” by the justice system and “horrified.”

At a news conference, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala called the appeals court’s decision “a great day for America.”

“This may seem like an exaggeration, but it is not. Today’s court decision is a great day for America because it instills in us faith in the existence of a justice system,” he said. he declared.

The majority decision of the New York Court of Appeals stated that “the trial court erroneously admitted testimony about alleged, uncharged, prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.” and that it was an “abuse of discretion”.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said, “We will do everything in our power to retry this case and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.” »

Weinstein was convicted in 2022 in Los Angeles of the rape and sexual assault of Italian actor and model Evgeniya Chernyshova, and his 16-year sentence in that case will keep him in prison despite the New York verdict being overturned .

An appeal is also imminent, and Weinstein’s lawyers will make the same arguments as in the New York case regarding witnesses testifying to assaults of which he was not accused. Los Angeles prosecutors said Thursday that the judge at their trial acted well within state law during his testimony. she allowed. Weinstein’s lawyers are due to present their arguments in a filing by May 20. Weinstein could be brought to California to serve his sentence in the case, or he could remain behind bars in New York awaiting a retrial.