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Ashley Judd Slams Overturning Of Harvey Weinstein's 2020 Conviction: 'Our Institutions Betray Survivors'
Ashley Judd expressed deep disappointment after Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction was overturned. She called it an "institutional betrayal" and highlighted the ongoing struggle for women.
Trigger Warning: The article contains references to rape and abuse
Actress Ashley Judd is voicing her dismay after Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was overturned on Thursday. For those who don't know, Judd has previously accused the disgraced movie producer of sexual harassment. The actress, 56, called the overturning of Weinstein’s conviction an “institutional betrayal” while highlighting the predicament of women in America during a press conference on April 25.
“This is what it's like to be a woman in America, living with male entitlement to our bodies,” she shared with the press, before recounting her own sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein, which allegedly occurred in a hotel room in 1997 during the filming of Kiss the Girl.
“When survivors tell their stories, they're exercising a powerful form of leadership that sparks others to join in shared action that catalyzes change,” Judd continued. “We understand that leadership is exercising principles and values in the face of uncertainty, and that's what we leaders and survivors do. This, today, is an act of institutional betrayal, and our institutions betray survivors of male sexual violence,” Ashley said.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 Conviction was Overruled
The State of New York's Court of Appeals, on Thursday, concluded that Justice James M. Burke, who originally chaired the 2020 case, acted falsely when he allowed the jury to hear the testimonies from some of Weinstein’s alleged victims, despite their allegations not aligning with the charges outlined in that particular trial. The proceedings concluded with Weinstein being convicted of a criminal sex act in the first-degree and third-degree rape, resulting in a 23-year prison sentence.
Judd, who was not involved in the said conviction, added in her aforementioned press conference that the survivors have so much to offer “but we need to be able to contribute without fear, without terror, of our voices being muted.” Judd informed during the conference that she heard the unwelcome news from Jodi Kantor, one of the New York Times journalists who she worked with in 2017 to tell her story about Weinstein.
Kantor, Judd, and writer Meghan Twohey’s work was dramatized in the 2022 film She Said, in which Judd appeared as herself.
Another case involving Harvey Weinstein - His reaction to the 2020 conviction overruling is pending
In 2022, a Los Angeles jury found Weinstein guilty of raping and assaulting a woman and sentenced him to 16 years behind bars.
As for the overturning of his 2020 conviction, Weinstein’s reaction is awaited. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, however, in a statement to The New York Times, thanked the court “for upholding the most basic principles that a criminal defendant should have in a trial.”
If you know someone who is struggling with abuse, please reach out and report about it. There are several helplines available for the same.
ALSO READ: Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 Convictions Have Been Overturned? Here's What We Know So Far
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