Harvey Weinstein used injections before assault and screamed he was ‘owed’ sex, prosecutor says, as landmark #MeToo trial opens
- Rape accuser found needle in hotel room bathroom after alleged attack and realised ex-film producer had injected himself to get erection, court told
- Defence seeks to portray accusers as willing participants
Harvey Weinstein went on trial Wednesday in a landmark moment for the #MeToo movement, with prosecutors painting him as a sexual predator who used his Hollywood clout to abuse women for decades, while his lawyers sought to portray his accusers as willing participants.
Prosecutor Meghan Hast told the jury of seven men and five women that the former studio boss was “not just a titan in Hollywood – he was a rapist” who screamed at one victim that she “owed” him sex, used injections to induce an erection before an assault and pushed his way into the apartment of another woman and attacked her.
“It is for his complete lack of empathy that he must be held accountable,” Hast said.
Weinstein lawyer Damon Cheronis countered by laying out plans to use friendly-sounding emails, calendar entries and other evidence to call into question the accusers’ accounts of being attacked.
The opening of the rape trial more than two years after a barrage of allegations against Weinstein gave rise to the #MeToo movement was seen by activists as a milestone in the global reckoning over sexual misconduct by powerful men. Weinstein’s lawyers have portrayed the case as the result of a climate of accusation run amok.