Five years ago today, reporters Jodi Cantor and Meghan Twohey published“Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades” in The NewYork Times, igniting a movement that would come to be known as #MeToo. Thatfiery reckoning brought forth new accusers and accused for months and yearsthereafter, but is far from burning out.
This week marks a convergence of several high-profile #MeToo cases, includinga final circling back to original villain Harvey Weinstein. The disgracedmovie producer, along with actor Kevin Spacey, director Paul Haggis and actorDanny Masterson, all face separate trials this month for incidents that cameto light when #MeToo was still raging.
Spacey’s trial begins first, in a federal court on Thursday in New York. Hehas been accused by fellow actor Anthony Rapp of an assault at Spacey’s homein Manhattan in 1986, when Rapp was 14. The “Rent” and “Star Trek” actor, thefirst to bring accusations against Spacey in 2017, is seeking $40 million inhis civil trial – the first time Spacey will face a jury after multiple menleveled accusations of misconduct against him.
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Further allegations against Spacey led to criminal charges in the UK – wherehe pleaded not guilty this summer and faces a separate trial next June – aswell as being fired from Netflix’s “House of Cards.” A $31 million damageaward for “House of Cards” producer MRC over costs of writing him out of theNetflix series was upheld by a judge this summer.
The other three trials start next week.
Jury selection begins in Los Angeles next Wednesday for the second criminaltrial involving Weinstein, who was convicted third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act in 2020 in New York City. The former WeinsteinCompany head has been serving a 23-year sentence while awaiting appeal in thatcase. The Los Angeles criminal case, which is expected to run six weeks ormore, involves 11 new felony charges involving five women who accuse him ofsexual assault between 2004 and 2013. He faces up to 140 years in prison ifconvicted on all counts.
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Down the hall in that same downtown Los Angeles courthouse, Masterson isfacing criminal accusations from three women who claim they met the “That 70sShow” star through the Church of Scientology and were assaulted in the early2000s. If convicted, Masterson faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life inprison in a trial that could last up to a month.
Lawyers for Masterson, a prominent Scientologist, had sought to exclude theChurch of Scientology and its influence from his trial.
Paul Haggis, however, successfully argued to have the role of Scientololgy_included_ in his trial since the former Scientologist intends to claim he’sthe victim of a smear campaign at the hands of the church he left and laterpublicly criticized.
The Oscar-winning “Crash” director was first accused of sexual assault in a2017 civil lawsuit brought by publicist Haleigh Breest, a case that wasdelayed nearly six years due to the pandemic and court backlogs. Four morewomen have since come forward with accusations – three in support of Breest’slawsuit, and a British national who accused Haggis of raping her in June at afilm festival in Italy, where Haggis may yet have to return to face charges.
In all likelihood, all four cases will be resolved before December.
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