Weinstein Accusers Ashley Judd, Rosanna Arquette Thank Women Who Testified Against Him

After the disgraced film executive was found guilty on two charges, the actors who helped launch the Me Too movement in 2017 spoke out on social media.
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Ashley Judd and Rosanna Arquette spoke out on social media after disgraced film executive Harvey Weinstein was found guilty on two charges ― a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.

Both women had publicly accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in 2017 and on Monday tweeted notes of thanks to the women who testified against him over the course of the trial.

Arquette praised the jury for “seeing through the dirty tactics of the defense,” while Judd said that the women who “walked through traumatic hell” performed “a public service to girls and women everywhere.”

The jury panel, which consisted of five women and seven men, did not find Weinstein guilty on the two most serious charges of predatory sexual assault.

Testimony on those charges came from aspiring actor Jessica Mann, who said Weinstein raped her in 2013, and former production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi, who said he sexually assaulted her in 2006. Former “Sopranos” actor Annabella Sciorra, along with many other women, also testified in an effort to demonstrate the mogul’s inappropriate patterns.

In a statement, more than 20 of the at least 100 women who accused the 67-year-old of sexual misconduct ― a group known as the “silence breakers” ― expressed their distaste with Weinstein being acquitted of the predatory sexual assault charges, but felt justice in knowing that he will “forever be known as a convicted serial predator.”

“This conviction would not be possible without the testimony of the courageous women and the many women who have spoken out,” the statement read. “Despite intimidation from Weinstein’s legal team, they courageously shared their stories with the jury, the courtroom and the world.”

“This has been a flawed process from the beginning but has further exposed the difficulties women face in coming forward to tell the truth about powerful abusers,” the statement continued. “Their bravery will forever be remembered in history. Our fight is far from over.” The statement also referenced new sex crimes charges against Weinstein from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

In 2017, Judd told The New York Times that Weinstein made unwanted sexual advances on her nearly two decades before; she went to his hotel room for what she believed would be a business meeting when he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower.

Arquette told The New Yorker that same year that she met Weinstein in the early ’90s at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She described how he allegedly grabbed her hand and put it on his penis. When she pushed back, she claimed that Weinstein retaliated by never putting her in one of his films again.

Weinstein will remain in jail until March 11, when he is scheduled to be sentenced. He faces up to 25 years for the criminal sexual act charge and four years for rape in the third degree.

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