Ashley Judd says Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction overturning is 'hard day for survivors'

Ashley Judd has broken her silence after Harvey Weinstein's infamous 2020 rape conviction was overturned in court.

The highest courtroom in New York City found the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings. Hollywood star Ashley, who was the first to come forward with Weinstein claims, says it's a "hard day for survivors".

His accusers could again be forced to relive their traumas on the witness stand. Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013.

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READ MORE: Harvey Weinstein's 2020 #MeToo rape conviction overturned after 'crucial mistake' by New York judge

He will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Weinstein was acquitted in Los Angeles on charges involving one of the women who testified in New York.

"But we live in our truth," Ashley Ms Judd told BBC News. The Ruby in Paradise actress, who is part of the Silence Breakers group, said the court's decision was a betrayal for sexual assault survivors. "Oftentimes survivors say that the betrayal and the moral injury we suffer within the system is worse than the sexual body invasion we experienced in the first place. We know what happened and the truth is consistent."

"We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. "The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial."

The court's majority adds, "it is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them."

The reversal of Weinstein's conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in the last two years, after the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court decision to throw out Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction. Weinstein's conviction stood for more than four years, heralded by activists and advocates as a milestone achievement, but dissected just as quickly by his lawyers and, later, the Court of Appeals when it heard arguments on the matter in February.

Weinstein is incarcerated in New York at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Albany. He maintains his innocence. He contends any sexual activity was consensual.

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