The Disgraced Media Mogul’s Victims Can Take A Breath Of Relief As Weinstein Is Convicted of Rape In New York City
It’s almost over! Since Donald Trump took office, women have been more empowered to fight back against the establishment and unite among themselves by speaking of their experiences with misogyny. One of the biggest female-forward movements in the modern era has been #MeToo. While #MeToo is genderless, it was pioneered by Tarana Burke in 2006 and became globally known in 2017 when actresses like Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan unleashed fury upon none other than former Miramax Co-Founder, Harvey Weinstein, who has created tons of films that you’ve definitely seen. Hashtags began trending on social media with women in the entertainment industry who were speaking of their personal experiences with Weinstein – and the general public got involved when making references to sexual predators in their own lives with #MyHarveyWeinstein. Today is a day that many thought we not come – Weinstein has been so in bed with the wealthy that he had to find someway to get off, right? Wrong.
According to NBC News, Weinstein has been convicted of third degree rape and one criminal sexual act in the first degree. The sixty-seven-year-old is found guilty of raping Jessica Mann, a once-aspiring actress, and criminally sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi, a production assistant. He has yet to be sentenced, but is looking at five to twenty-five years in jail as of right now. The jury took five days to make their decision which made the masses nervous, but thankfully they came through and justice has been served. Weinstein is still on trial for a rape allegation in Los Angeles – so he could very well be seeing more jail time. Despite claiming his innocence until the bitter end and using a walker likely to garner sympathy – Weinstein was taken away by court officers in handcuffs today. He didn’t need a walker as he was escorted away. He is due to be sentenced on March 11th.
https://twitter.com/maydaymindy9/status/1232067787280879616
While we owe it all to these brave women to come forward with their experiences with Weinstein, there is a round of applause due to Ronan Farrow who first published the Weinstein scandals and his corrupt cover ups, including many Hollywood Elite who went blind to Weinstein’s predatory nature for decades. Basically: Everyone knew and didn’t have the nerve to speak up. Until these courageous women did. It truly goes to show you that media outrage, voices, and platforms truly can change the world as some Twitter users are suggesting:
If you think journalism doesn't matter, take a gander at Harvey Weinstein today.
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) February 24, 2020
McGowan who arguably became Weinstein’s biggest nightmare and has alleged he raped her years ago took to Twitter to celebrate a victory. In a series of tweets, McGowan claims:
“I’m proud of the brave women who testified, they have taken out a monster on earth. Thank you to the prosecutor & jury who said not one more. Thank you to the public for examining things more deeply. I can finally exhale. … For once he won’t be sitting comfortably. For once he will know what it’s like to have power wrapped around his neck. Today is not a referendum on #MeToo. This is taking out the trash.”
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1232058368333897731
Writer’s Note: This is the opinion of one Instinct Magazine contributor and does not reflect the views of Instinct Magazine itself or fellow contributors.
H/T: NBC News
