Ashley Judd, #MeToo founders react to ruling overturning Harvey Weinstein’s conviction
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court docket overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on Thursday, saying the trial choose shouldn’t have allowed different girls to testify about alleged assaults the film mogul wasn’t charged with. Right here is among the response to the choice:
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“That is what it’s wish to be a lady in America, residing with male entitlement to our our bodies.” — Ashley Judd, whose on-the-record assertion accusing Weinstein of sexually harassing her as a younger actor helped launch the case.
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“Judges all through this nation are going to cut back what they permit to come back into proof as a result of it’s a constitutional proper to inform your facet of the story with out having a lot baggage out of your entire life being placed on show to a jury .. Harvey will, beneath this new ruling, have the ability to take the stand, will have the ability to inform his facet of the story and be very in keeping with what he mentioned all alongside, which is, ‘Sure, there was the sexual encounter … However I by no means pressured her to do something.’ ” — Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala.
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“As a result of the courageous girls on this case broke their silence, tens of millions and tens of millions and tens of millions of others discovered the energy to come back ahead and do the identical. That may all the time be the victory. This does not change that. And the individuals who abuse their energy and privilege to violate and hurt others will all the time be the villain. This doesn’t change that.” — Tarana Burke, who based the #MeToo motion at giant.
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“A jury was advised in California that he was convicted in one other state for rape … Seems he shouldn’t have been convicted, and it wasn’t a good conviction. … It interfered along with his presumption of innocence in a major method in California.” — Weinstein lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, who’s interesting his Los Angeles rape conviction.
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“Immediately’s determination doesn’t erase the reality of what occurred. It doesn’t alter the fact that Weinstein is a serial sexual abuser who exploited his energy for many years.” — Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the Nationwide Ladies’s Regulation Heart, which runs the Time’s Up Authorized Fund, offering authorized assist and sources for folks dealing with sexual harassment and violence.
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“Immediately’s determination reinforces what we already know via our survey of over 13,000 leisure employees. We have now seen a scarcity of progress in addressing the facility imbalances that enable abuse to happen and that sexual assault continues to be a pervasive downside.” — Anita Hill, chair and president of The Hollywood Fee.
