The victims of Harvey Weinstein expressed their outrage Thursday over the “unfair” ruling in New York that saw the former Hollywood mogul’s rape conviction overturned — calling it a “major step back” in the #MeToo movement.
Lauren Sivan, a former news anchor who accused Weinstein of masturbating in a potted plant in front of her, told The Post that she was shocked by the New York State Court of Appeals ruling.
“I had absolutely no idea this was going to happen,” Sivan said in an exclusive interview. “I don’t think anyone was expecting this.”
She said the overturning of the New York conviction “sends a message” to his victims — who she says “went through a lot of trauma and pain to testify against him.”
“It was not an easy thing for those women to do and for them to have to potentially have to do it all over again is a travesty,” she said.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents eight Weinstein victims, including Taralê Wulff and Dawn Dunning, also slammed the court’s decision to order a new trial for the disgraced producer.
“Today’s decision is a major step back in holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence,” Wigdor said in a statement.
Harvey Weinstein's sex crime conviction overturned: Key facts
- Harvey Weinstein’s New York rape conviction was overturned in a 4-3 ruling by New York state’s highest court.
- The New York State Court of Appeals found that Manhattan Judge James Burke “erroneously” allowed testimony from three women whose allegations weren’t connected to the case.
- The 72-year-old 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 and raping two women.
- Weinstein will remain behind bars because of a February 2023 conviction, sentencing him to 16 years in prison for raping an Italian model in 2013.
Lindsay Goldbrum, another attorney for Wulff, echoed Wigdor’s criticism and called the ruling “upsetting and traumatizing.”
“I am disappointed by the way the decision came out today,” she told The Post. “I think it was a step back.”
The Silence Breakers, a group of Weistein accusers who banded together to report his sexual misconduct, called the ruling “profoundly unjust.”
“The news today is not only disheartening, but it’s profoundly unjust,” they said in a statement. “But this ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth; it’s merely a setback. The man found guilty continues to serve time in a California prison. When survivors everywhere broke their silence in 2017, the world changed. We continue to stand strong and advocate for that change. We will continue to fight for justice for survivors everywhere.”
Ashley Judd, one of the first actresses who came forward with allegations against Weinstein and sued him in 2018, also criticized the high court’s ruling.
“That is unfair to survivors,” she told New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor. “We still live in our truth. And we know what happened.”
Sarah Ann Masse, another Weinstein accuser who founded an organization to support survivors of sexual abuse, said the decision to throw out the conviction reopens a dark chapter in the lives of the former Hollywood producer’s victims.
“Abusers are given chance after chance to get back to their ‘normal lives’ while survivors continue to suffer from a lack of support, prolonged trauma, chronic illness, mental health struggles, economic harm and various forms of retaliation,” she said.
The New York State Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 that a Manhattan judge “erroneously” allowed testimony from three women whose allegations were not connected to the rape case, including Wulff and Dunning.
Wigdor, however, claimed courts routinely admit evidence of other “uncharged acts” in a case to establish the predatory pattern of the accused.
Both Dunning, a costume designer and producer, and Wulff, an actress, testified before the jury in 2020 about how Weinstein sexually assaulted them in the early 2000s.
They were joined by Lauren Young, another victim who told the court about how Weinstein raped her at a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom in 2013.
“The jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony and overturning the verdict is tragic in that it will require the victims to endure yet another trial,” Wigdor said.
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in New York following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006 and raping hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.
He was also sentenced in February 2023 to 16 years in prison in a separate Los Angeles criminal case for raping an Italian mode at a film festival in 2013.
Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said the disgraced Hollywood producer was content with the latest New York ruling. “We are happily surprised and we are studying the ruling,” Engelmayer told ABC News.
