Harvey Weinstein – Take Two

In a 4-3 decision, the state of New York court of appeals ruled that the judge who oversaw Weinstein’s 2020 conviction prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings and was mistaken in allowing other women whose accusations were not a part of the 2020 case to testify.

“Weinstein was convicted by a jury for various sexual crimes against three named complainants and, on appeal, claims that he was judged, not on the conduct for which he was indicted, but on irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts.”

I always thought Harvey got a raw deal. Yes, he was, without a doubt, a huge pervert who used all his power, prestige and clout in the movie industry to have power over female actresses, all of whom were desperately and greedily looking for leading roles in his blockbuster feature films to further their own careers. 

Perhaps the problem was with the industry itself and not with big perv Harvey. However, I am not suggesting, for one second, he was a victim of the industry – if he decided to behave as other powerful movie moguls did, he still had the free will to be a better man and he simply wasn’t. He was indeed a loathsome man, with very little natural masculine appeal for women; and when it came to his loverboy skills with women, when his director said: “that’s a wrap for today”, Harvey changed gears into gear Harv the ultimate perv, he truly was a weakling – a bloke who would have to pay for sex one way or another. 

But does that make him a rapist, as much as it would make a man who pays prostitutes for sex a rapist?  

Harvey’s currency was power. Yes, some of the higher-up-on-the food-chain actresses may have refused him, but others – perhaps the ones on the up-and-up – certainly crossed over into being willing – as much as a prostitute would be willing to exchange sex for money or some or other resource.

Another aspect one needs to look at, is the American business of showbiz and America itself as a society. 

Showbiz at this Hollywood level is not something any of us mere mortals can understand or relate to. It’s a world of so-called “celebrities”, a world of vacuous people feeding off each other like parasites, feigning for the camera. Just look at the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial I wrote about previously (https://www.tech4law.co.za/humour/text-funnies/johnny-and-ambers-rum-and-coke-diary/). 

As far as I see it, the only benefit that came out of lockdown was we saw just how insignificant “celebrities” wearing designer outfits on the red-carpet really were. They were all locked at home – far more expensive, sumptuous and beautiful homes than any of ours – but the limelight was turned off and they became the non-event they really are.

America, as a society, is Big Satan. Since WW2, it’s been the author behind the death of at least 30 million civilian souls – all done in the name of apparently “making the world a safer place” and protecting the world from the scourges of “communism” and “terrorism” – in countries such as the former Korea, Vietman, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Somalia, Bosnia, Croatia, Haiti, Kosovo, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and now the Ukraine and Israel.

When you add Big Satan and the Hollywood movie industry, the normal rules simply do not apply to this freak-show. 

To sum up Harvey’s tale of woe:

1. It was a show-trial.
2. The media judged him before he even got to court.
3. The trial judge made fatal errors in permitting female witnesses to testify who were in fact not part of the case.
4. The #MeToo movement used this trial to gain maximum momentum.
5. It proved that the US is not blindly writing blank cheques for bombs used to kill defenceless civilians, and the US legal system truly works – where prominent Jewish men such as Weinstein and Epstein are all equal before the law. 

For those readers who still want the annihilation of Harvey to continue and their Shylock pound of flesh – fear not – Harvey is toast at any rate. He’s lost an appeal on a 16 year sentence for rape in Los Angeles. Very soon, he’ll be a guest of the State of California when he’s transferred in a Con-Air Department of Corrections type aluminium bus from New York City to LA; four of his teeth have fallen out/been knocked out; he has heart problems (no doubt he always had a big heart); he suffers from sleep apnoea, diabetes and eye problems; his Weinstein movie company is dead and buried; his net worth has ground down to a mere USD 25M from its dizzying height of USD 300M at the summit of his film career.

Bless the freak-show called America, and, as Freddie Mercury sang:

“The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah
Inside my heart is breaking
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile, still, stays on.”

Contributed by:
Barry Varkel, an attorney of the High Court of South Africa and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Author of Nigiri Law, Goy Vey and Big Jon Harry’s Revenge