Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Before he was a convicted rapist, Harvey Weinstein ruled Hollywood, acting as the tastemaker who decided the fate of cult-classic films and launched some of the most successful careers in industry history. But according to Los Angeles prosecutors, the now nearly-blind 70-year-old was actually a “degenerate rapist” who sexually assaulted at least four women between 2003 and 2014—and he still needs to face a fresh reckoning.
“We know he thought he was so powerful that people would excuse his behavior. ‘That’s just Harvey being Harvey.’ ‘That’s just Hollywood’… It’s time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez told Los Angeles Superior Court jurors during closing arguments in the West Coast sex crimes trial against Weinstein on Thursday.
The latest broadside against the disgraced former producer comes after five weeks of testimony against Weinstein, who has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including rape. It also comes after a surprise move this summer by the New York State Court of Appeals allowing Weinstein to appeal his 2020 conviction on similar crimes—and, in turn, placing newfound importance on the L.A. case to decide his fate.