Harvey Weinstein might be #MeToo’s biggest miscalculation.
Nearly four years after the disgraced movie mogul was convicted on two felony counts — rape and criminal sexual assault — New York’s highest court has overturned that verdict.
His victims are outraged, as they should be. But it is the prosecutors and the judge in this case, doubtless swept up in a media maelstrom that found Weinstein guilty before he ever entered that courtroom, who should be the objects of their rage and contempt.
It is they — not the justices who voted to overturn — who are responsible for re-victimizing these women. The overzealous, self-righteous New York prosecutorial team, led by then-DA Cyrus Vance, is to blame.
As is the now-retired judge in this case, James M. Burke, who allowed the testimony of three women who had nothing to do with Weinstein’s trial.
Harvey Weinstein might be MeToo’s biggest miscalculation. His victims are outraged, as they should be. But it is the prosecutors and the judge in this case who should be the objects of their rage and contempt.
In overreaching, in trying to overcorrect for a multi-pronged, system-wide failure that allowed Weinstein to predate for years — exposés killed, careers threatened, payoffs and NDAs executed, cover-ups at his movie studio and favors called in with a certain New York DA’s office — well, Vance and Burke have done as much damage to women as Weinstein ever did.
What a travesty. What an affront to the brave victims who came forward, who finally felt they could go on the record, and to the two plaintiffs who testified in New York court against Weinstein.
Convicting him was always going to be difficult. There was no greater discouragement than the 2015 allegation by an Italian model named Ambra Battilana, who told the NYPD that Weinstein had forcibly groped her during a meeting in March of that year.
The department’s Special Victims Division opened an investigation, and when Weinstein asked her to meet again, Battilana wore a wire and caught Weinstein admitting to that prior assault.
As her accusations made headlines, some outlets reported that Battilana, then 22, had accepted free tickets to a Broadway show Weinstein produced, attended at least one sex party thrown by disgraced Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and had once accused a 70-year-old ‘sugar daddy’ of sexual assault — implying, basically, that Battilana was a slut and a scheming wannabe who could not be believed.
The NYPD felt differently. They found Battilana extremely credible. ‘We built a rock-solid case,’ Michael Osgood, the former SVD commander, said Thursday.
It never went to trial.
Weinstein reportedly contacted famed former sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein — who had publicly wished for a movie deal with the mogul — and Fairstein then agreed to reach out on Weinstein’s behalf to Martha Bashford, who led the DA’s sex crimes bureau.
Vance ultimately declined to prosecute, claiming there wasn’t enough evidence. Once the case was dismissed, Battalia took a settlement from Weinstein — which may have seemed logical and fair to her, but which only retroactively contributed to the depiction of her as untrustworthy.
That’s how untouchable Harvey Weinstein was.
It is they – not the justices who voted to overturn – who are responsible for re-victimizing these women. The overzealous, self-righteous New York prosecutorial team, led by then-DA Cyrus Vance (pictured), is to blame.
Convicting him was always going to be difficult. There was no greater discouragement than the 2015 allegation by an Italian model named Ambra Battilana (pictured), who told the NYPD that Weinstein had forcibly groped her during a meeting in March of that year.
So despite the whisper network and the longstanding rumors and Courtney Love’s infamous warning to young actresses — ‘If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party at the Four Seasons, don’t go’ she said on the red carpet in 2005 — nothing ever happened to Harvey.
Until 2017, when the dam finally burst: story after story of attack and assault, and in some cases rape — alleged by women both famous and not, more than 80 accusers all over the world, their tales remarkably similar.
Finally, it seemed, justice would be done.
We knew how nervous the New York prosecutors must have been. They had only two plaintiffs, Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, and both women maintained consensual sexual relationships with Weinstein after their alleged rapes.
This was a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, especially with a jury composed of seven men and five women. But the prosecution also called Dr. Barbara Ziv, an expert in rape trauma, who explained that there are no perfect victims — and for those who know their attacker, there is often an attempt to maintain a relationship in order to cope with the trauma and not be completely unmoored by it.
This was no small victory, getting a jury to convict under these circumstances.
Weinstein’s guilty verdict and lengthy prison sentence bolstered the burgeoning #MeToo movement. It illuminated the unique complications of sex crimes, the gray areas and nuances that often work against victims.
But in allowing the testimony of other alleged victims who were not part of this case, the judge and prosecution were only ever going to have a false and short-lived victory.
In this particular moment, with women’s reproductive rights under assault as never before, with once-convicted monsters such as Bill Cosby set free and other high-profile offenders jobless but still walking around, this decision — a legal vindication of Weinstein that has nothing to do with morality or common sense — is a crushing blow.
Weinstein reportedly contacted famed former sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein (pictured) – who had publicly wished for a movie deal with the mogul – and Fairstein then agreed to reach out on Weinstein’s behalf to Martha Bashford, who led the DA’s sex crimes bureau. Vance ultimately declined to prosecute.
If the prospect of a free Harvey Weinstein is to mean anything — his lawyers are appealing his LA conviction on May 20 — DAs on both coasts must learn from this before charging another famous, powerful man whose alleged sexual predation and deviance has been making headlines for months now: Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, accused of sexually assaulting men as well.
If victims of sex crimes everywhere, no matter their age or gender, are to get true justice, judges and prosecutors must do the deeply unglamorous work of applying the law while disregarding the spotlight and the chicness of a new, radical cause driven by understandable rage and emotion.
A Harvey Weinstein can’t ever happen again, in more ways than one.
