Today marks five years since reporters Jodi Kantor and Meghan Zweihey were born. Published “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades”In The New York Times, sparking the #MeToo movement. The fiery reckoning brought new accusers to the table and led to more accusations. Months and yearsIt will continue to be used, but it is far from exhausting.
This week’s #MeToo events include a convergence of high-profile cases including one involving Harvey Weinstein. Along with actor Kevin Spacey and director Paul Haggis, Danny Masterson will be facing separate trials this month. These incidents were discovered while #MeToo was still raging.
Spacey’s trial begins first, in a federal court on Thursday in New York. He is accused by fellow actor Anthony Rapp of an assault at Spacey’s home in Manhattan in 1986, when Rapp was 14. The actor was arrested. “Rent” “Star Trek” actor, the first to bring accusations against Spacey in 2017, is seeking $40 million in his civil trial – the first time Spacey will face a jury after multiple men leveled accusations of misconduct against him.
Further allegations against Spacey led to criminal charges in the U.K. – where he pleaded not guilty this summer and faces a separate trial next June – as well as being fired from Netflix’s “House of Cards.”A $31 Million Damage Award “House of Cards”Judge upholds producer MRC in dispute over the costs of writing him out.
The next week will bring the third and fourth trials.
Next Wednesday, Los Angeles jurors will begin to select jurors for the second criminal case involving Weinstein. Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape in New York City and a first degree criminal sexual act in Los Angeles in 2020. While awaiting appeal in this case, Weinstein Company’s former head has been on a 23-year term. The Los Angeles criminal case is expected to last six weeks or longer. It involves 11 new felonies involving five women that he was accused of sexual assault between 2004-2013. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 140 year imprisonment
Masterson faces criminal charges from three women, who allege they met Masterson at the same downtown Los Angeles courthouse. “That 70s Show”Star through the Church of Scientology, and were attacked in the early 2000s. Masterson, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence between 45 years and life in prison. The trial could last as long as a month.
Masterson was tried by lawyers representing prominent Scientologists who sought to exclude the Church of Scientology from his trial.
Paul Haggis however successfully argued for the Scientololgy role Included in his trial since the former Scientologist intends to claim he’s the victim of a smear campaign at the hands of the church he left and later publicly criticized.
Oscar-winning “Crash”Director was initially accused of sexual assault in 2017 civil suit brought by Haleigh Breest, publicist. The case was delayed for nearly six years because of the court backlogs and pandemic. Four more women have since come forward with accusations – three in support of Breest’s lawsuit, and a British national who accused Haggis of raping her in June at a film festival in Italy, where Haggis may yet have to return to face charges.
All four cases are likely to be resolved by December.
