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It’s a scene Harvey Weinstein is used to: walking through a phalanx of flashing cameras and reporters shouting “Harvey.”
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Except this time, the Hollywood mogul wasn’t walking into the premiere of his new film or an awards ceremony. He was turning himself in to police to be arrested on sex crime charges.
Weinstein handed himself over to authorities at the New York Police Department’s 1st Precinct in Tribeca, close to where the Weinstein Company’s headquarters are located, at 7:30 Friday morning. Police said he was arrested on rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse, and sexual misconduct charges for encounters with two women.
Just over an hour later, Weinstein was perp-walked out of the station in handcuffs and driven to a New York court where he will be formally charged.
One of the cases involves Lucia Evans, an aspiring actress who claims the film producer forced her to perform oral sex on him in his office in 2004. “At a certain point, you have to think about the greater good of humanity, of womankind,” she told The New Yorker when she came forward with her story.
The other case is said to involve a victim who has yet to come forward publicly.
In total, more than 80 women across the world have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, and ongoing criminal investigations against him exist in Los Angeles and London. Weinstein has denied all charges of nonconsensual sex.
Weinstein has agreed to put up $1 million cash for his bail, wear a monitoring device, and surrender his passport, according to reports.
As Weinstein stepped from a black SUV and into the Manhattan police station, he ignored all reporters’ questions and clutched three books, including “Something Wonderful,” a biography of Broadway composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.
He also appeared to have a copy of a biography of Elia Kazan, the iconic Greek-American director of “On the Waterfront” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Kazan was also known for taking part in the McCarthy-era “witch hunts” investigating Communist influences in Hollywood.
This is the first criminal case to be brought against Weinstein and comes 231 days after the New York Times broke the story about sexual abuse allegations from scores of women that ultimately destroyed Weinstein’s career and set in motion the #MeToo movement.
Back in 2015, the NYPD tried to get Weinstein arrested after an Italian model caught the producer on tape admitting he had groped her the previous day. But despite the evidence, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance decided not to press charges, a move that caused a maelstrom of criticism when the depth of Weinstein’s depravity was made public in the past 8 months.
Vance has been under significant pressure to bring criminal charges in this case, especially after the New York Times revealed that his campaign was paid about $64,000 (€55,000) in donations from Weinstein’s lawyer David Boies after the case was dropped.
One of Weinstein’s alleged victims, actress Rose McGowan, said ahead of his arrest: “I, and so many of Harvey Weinstein’s survivors, had given up hope that our rapist would be held accountable by law. Today we are one step closer to justice.”
Cover image: Media mogul Harvey Weinstein is seen leaving the NYPD 1st Precinct after surrendering himself in New York, NY on May 25, 2018. (Photo by Albin Lohr-Jones)(Sipa via AP Images)
