Harvey Weinstein, convicted rapist, has been sentenced to 23 years in jail. It’s an incredibly significant decision, and with his own lawyers saying yesterday that a sentence of more than five years would result in Weinstein dying behind bars, his fate is all but sealed. The man whose actions kicked off the #MeToo movement has finally seen justice, but he still doesn’t think that he did anything wrong.
To catch up on how we got here, listen to the GOAT Team discuss the guilty verdict…
During the trial, Weinstein didn’t seem all that worried, really. He would laugh and smile for journalists as he made his way in and out of the courthouse, shuffling along on a walker.
Despite this seemingly confident exterior, he hadn’t said anything publicly during the trial. Finally though, in the courthouse before being handed his sentence, we got his thoughts on his downfall.
“We may have different truths, but I have remorse for all of you and for all the men going through this crisis,” he said.
“The movement basically started with me… now there are thousands of men who are being accused.”
He admitted that he had “said bad things to people” but made sure to point out that there were “thousands of people who would say great things about me.” This is despite the fact that during sentencing, there was barely anybody sitting behind Harvey Weinstein in support.
He ended by saying that he was “worried about this country.”
“I think men are confused about all of this… this feeling of thousands of men and women who are losing due process.”
The bottom line is that this man does not believe that he has done anything wrong. He genuinely sees himself as a victim here, and thinks that the men who have been accused of sexual assault are the ones we really should be worried about.
Statistically, in the USA only 2%-6% of sexual assault allegations are considered false, while up to 80% of assaults go unreported. If Harvey Weinstein really is worried about the state of the country, then he’s worried about the wrong people.
He’ll have a lot of time in prison to think it over, though. The rest of his life, in fact.
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