Ashley Judd and several other Hollywood stars, some of who had come forward about being sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein, slammed the courts for overturning his rape conviction.
“That is unfair to survivors,” Judd, the first celebrity accuser to speak out against the disgraced movie producer, told The New York Times in an article published Thursday.
“We still live in our truth. And we know what happened,” she added.
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Additionally, Filipino Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez — who accused Weinstein of grabbing her breasts and putting his hands up her skirt during a 2015 business meeting in his Manhattan office — didn’t hold back on calling out the courts.
“If the D.A. had taken my case seriously in 2015, we wouldn’t be here,” Gutierrez told the newspaper. “This is an ongoing failure of the justice system — and the courts — to take survivors seriously and to protect our interests.”
Katherine Kendall — who accused Weinstein of chasing her while naked in his New York apartment during what she believed to be a work meeting — called the ruling a “terrible reminder that victims of sexual assault just don’t get justice.”
She added that women who go up against “powerful men rarely get justice.”
“But the important thing is that we do not stop speaking out,” she said. “Our culture needs to keep supporting silence breakers.”
“Law & Order: SVU” actress Mariska Hargitay slammed the decision, writing on Instagram, “The reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s conviction comes as a painful and infuriating affront to survivors and advocates everywhere.”
Hargitay, a rape survivor, added, “To every survivor in this case and every survivor who has to bear witness to this incorrigible marriage of justice, my heart is with you today, tomorrow, and forever.”
Actress Amber Tamblyn — an outspoken advocate of the #MeToo movement — became enraged when she heard about the court’s decision, calling it “a loss to the entire community of women who put their lives and careers on the line to speak out.”
Weinstein’s sex crimes conviction was overturned in a shocking decision Thursday after the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the witness testimony should not have been allowed during the trial.
The “prior bad acts” witnesses were “unnecessary to establish defendant’s intent and served only to establish defendant’s propensity to commit the crimes charged,” the courts claimed.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is reportedly planning a retrial.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” spokesperson Emily Tuttle told CNN.
Meanwhile, the fallen film mogul’s defense attorney, Donna Rotunno, believes the decision is “larger than Harvey Weinstein.”
“Courts cannot operate on emotion and lack of due process,” Rotunno said. “The world is off-balance, and when the justice system does not work, nothing does. This decision restores faith in the foundation of our system.”
In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted of one count of rape and one count of criminal sex act.
At the time, Weinstein was found guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree for forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi and rape in the third degree for an attack on hairstylist Jessica Mann.
He was sentenced to 23 years in prison for raping Mann and sexually abusing Haleyi.
The trial saw 28 witnesses take the stand to give emotional testimony, though at least 80 women have reportedly come forward with accusations of misconduct from Weinstein.
Three years later, he was sentenced to another 16 years in prison following his trial in Los Angeles for the forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object of Jane Doe 1, an Italian model, at the Mr. C Hotel in the city in February 2013.
Outrage over Weinstein’s alleged actions inspired the #MeToo movement that swept Hollywood.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
