Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction overturned: Ashley Judd reacts to ruling; calls it ‘betrayal’

Hollywood actor Ashley Judd described the overturning of Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction as a ‘tough day for survivors’.

‘But we live in our truth, Ms Judd told BBC News in an interview.

Weinstein's case was pivotal in the #MeToo movement. The New York Court of Appeals ordered a retrial, citing biased testimony. Weinstein asserts his innocence.

Critics, including complainants, lawyers, and #MeToo activists, viewed the overturning of Weinstein's New York conviction as a setback for abuse survivors.

Ashley Judd, the first actor to accuse Weinstein, expressed her day being disrupted by the news of a new trial. She, a member of the Silence Breakers group, called the decision a betrayal to sexual assault survivors, noting that the system's betrayal and moral injury can be worse than the initial assault.

‘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,’ Ms Judd said.

She praised those who had stepped forward in the New York case against Weinstein.

‘We know what happened and the truth is consistent,’ she said.

In a four-three ruling, the New York Appeals court stated that Weinstein's 2020 trial had wrongly included testimony of uncharged prior sexual acts and allowed prejudicial cross-examination. The court ordered a new trial, noting these errors. Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of assaulting Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann in 2013, resulting in a 23-year sentence.

Weinstein's defense team claimed that the sexual encounters between the movie executive and the accusers were consensual.

Weinstein received a 16-year sentence in California last year for raping an Italian model and actress in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013. This separate conviction is unaffected by the New York appeal. Weinstein will stay in the Mohawk Correctional Facility in New York while the Manhattan district attorney considers a new trial.

Critics, including complainants, lawyers, and activists, condemned April 25th’s ruling as ‘tragic’ and a ‘step backward’ for victims' rights in cases of sexual abuse by powerful individuals.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer who represented Mimi Haley, the key prosecution witness in the New York case, said that her client would consider testifying again ‘even though the process of testifying was gruelling and retraumatising for Mimi’.

The Silence Breakers earlier said its members would not be bowed by a decision they regarded as ‘profoundly unjust’.

At a news conference in New York, members including Ms Judd said that they would continue to seek justice for victims of sexual abuse and violence.

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