Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to New Charges in NYC

Harvey Weinstein entered a not guilty plea to new charges at his arraignment on Wednesday in New York.

Weinstein appeared in court in a wheelchair, after having heart surgery last week.

Variety reports that Harvey’s lawyer Arthur Aidala, asked, “Why are they indicting him on new charges? Maybe their current case fell apart. They had an individual, then they went out to seek the crime.”

News broke on Thursday that the disgraced movie producer was indicted on new charges by a grand jury. So far, the new indictment is sealed, but Variety reports it is a “criminal sex act charge.”

Harvey was convicted of third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sex act in 2020. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but that conviction was overturned on appeal in April. 

Prosecutors now want to re-charge the 72-year-old, and Variety reports they want to include this new charge. The defense, however, is opposed to that plan.

His new trial was tentatively set for November, but could move to 2025.

In 2022, Weinstein was convicted of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault in L.A. He was sentenced to 16 years for those crimes. His team plans to appeal.

Accusations against Harvey in 2017 spurred the #MeToo movement, but he has vehemently denied the allegations and charges against him.

After his NYC conviction was overturned, “Extra” spoke with Mariska Hargitay at Variety’s Power of Women New York event.

The actress founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, which aims to transform society’s response to sexual assault, among other missions, and talked about the #MeToo movement in her Variety speech.