Mariska Hargitay Angered Over Harvey Weinstein's Overturned Rape Conviction: 'Painful And Infuriating'
Mariska Hargitay strongly criticized the reversal of Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction in New York State in 2020.
The lead actress of 'Law & Order: SVU,' whose character tackles sex crimes on her long-running television series, recently disclosed that she herself is a survivor of rape.
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"The reversal of Harvey Weinstein's conviction comes as a painful and infuriating affront to survivors and advocates everywhere," Hargitay said on Thursday via Instagram. "To every survivor in this case and every survivor who has to bear witness to this incorrigible marriage of justice, my heart is with you today, tomorrow, and forever."
In May 2018, Harvey Weinstein, then 72, faced allegations involving actress Lucia Evans and another unnamed woman. These charges emerged amid a broader investigation into numerous accusations of sexual assault and harassment by various women in 2017. Subsequently, the co-founder of Miramax was convicted of rape in February 2020 and handed a 23-year prison sentence.
Following Weinstein's imprisonment, his legal team lodged an appeal against the verdict. The New York Court of Appeals ultimately overturned the ruling in a narrow 4-3 decision on Thursday.
This decision arose after Weinstein's attorney, Arthur Aidala, contended that his client did not receive a fair trial, attributing this purported injustice to decisions made by trial judge James Burke. Aidala argued that Weinstein's character had been the focus of the trial rather than the specific allegations against him.
Hargitay's denouncement of the reversal comes in the wake of her disclosure earlier this year regarding her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault from several years ago.
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"In my thirties, a man raped me," Hargitay, 60, revealed in an essay for PEOPLE, published on January 10. She described the experience "wasn't sexual at all. It was dominance and control. Overpowering control."
