In a massive victory for the #MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for two felony charges.
The verdict isn’t surprising considering the harrowing testimony given by his victims over the course of the trial.
During the trial, Weinstein didn’t testify, but he decided to make a statement before heading off to jail.
Per CNN, the transcripts of his statement paint a picture of a man who is clearly incapable of taking responsibility for his actions.
In comments that stretched for about 20 minutes, Weinstein expressed remorse, defended his relationships with the women who testified against him, said he was “confused,” bragged about the charity money he raised after 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy, lamented that his children won’t speak to him and fretted about the future of the American legal system.
The ‘remorse’ part must have been included on the advice of his lawyers, because the rest just doesn’t correspond.
Here are some of the highlights of that speech, from the court transcript:
Weinstein defended himself and all men:
I have great remorse for all the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country.
You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood.
He talks about the wonderful times he had with his victims:
I’m not going to say these aren’t great people, I had wonderful times with these people, you know. It is just I’m totally confused and I think men are confused about all of these issues.
He then compared what was happening to him with what happened to communists in America after World War II:
You know, I just — dealing with the thousands of men and women who are losing due process, I’m worried about this country in a sense too. I’m worried there is a repeat of the blacklist there was in the 1950’s when lots of men like myself, Dalton Trumbo, one of the great examples, did not work, went to jail because people thought they were communists.
Trumbo wasn’t persecuted for sexual assault, FYI. He was one of the Hollywood 10 who were accused of ‘un-American’ activities for portraying supposedly communist themes in their films.
Also communism is not the same as sexual assault.
He goes on to humblebrag about all his charitable ventures.
You can read the rest of his statement, here.
Weinstein prepared for his inevitable sentence by hiring a prison consultant.
Yes, that’s a real thing, with the consultant guiding their clients through prison etiquette, and how to run your affairs on the outside while you’re on the inside.
Hopefully, this will be the last time we’ll have to listen to him talk.
[source:cnn]
