#MeToo founder Tarana Burke insists Harvey Weinstein’s overturned conviction ‘is not a blow to the movement’

In a hurriedly called press conference on Thursday, Tarana Burke, the pioneer of #MeToo, couldn’t contain her sadness over the news that the New York Court of Appeals had reversed the sex crimes conviction of once-powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. But she had just as much resolve.

On a day when the majority of survivors’ responses—including those of Weinstein’s accusers—conveyed disappointment and indignation, Burke made the decision to issue a rallying cry for their togetherness.

When we are experiencing highs, we ride the wave, and when we are experiencing lows, we go low, get dirty, and take necessary action. We go into the trenches and work, and we will keep working like that, she declared. “That is unaffected by the case’s outcome.”

Burke went on to say that she was “devastated for the survivors who are connected to this case and the survivors who had found some solace and catharsis in the original verdict around Harvey Weinstein.” Burke spearheaded the #MeToo campaign before it went viral.

Following actress and activist Ashley Judd, who referred to the court’s ruling as “an act of institutional betrayal,” Burke spoke at the news conference.

Judd declared, “I stand with all survivors of male sexual violence in sisterhood and solidarity.” “Male sexual violence has invaded and disrupted the lives of American women on this day, as it does on every day.” This is the reality for American women who have to put up with men’s entitlement to our bodies.

The decision by the New York Court of Appeals was made more than six years after reports in 2017 by The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed Weinstein’s purported history of sexual abuse, harassment, and payments made in secret while he exploited young women by using his position of power in Hollywood. Following the disclosures, a number of women spoke out about the widespread nature of sexual abuse and harassment in public, sparking the #MeToo movement.

When Judd shared her account in Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé, she became one of the first women in Hollywood to openly accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment.

In 2018 she sued him for harassment and defamation.

Weinstein was one of Hollywood’s most influential producers of films including “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks,” and “Shakespeare in Love” before his downfall began.

The matter and its future

In 2020, Weinstein, then 72 years old, was found guilty in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. He received a 23-year prison sentence. Weinstein has steadfastly upheld his innocence and denied engaging in any kind of unconsented sex.

The court ruled that the testimony of witnesses who had committed “prior bad acts” should not have been permitted because it “served only to establish defendant’s propensity to commit the crimes charged and was unnecessary to establish defendant’s intent.”

On Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced that the case will be retried.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reports that Weinstein is being imprisoned at the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, New York. The government declared that it is examining the ruling from the appellate court.

Given that he was given a 16-year prison sentence in Los Angeles last year for rape and sexual assault, it is doubtful that he will be released. Similar “prior bad acts” witnesses were utilized in that trial, which has also been challenged.

At the end of her remarks on Thursday, Burke acknowledged that the court’s ruling would spur questions about the future of the #MeToo movement but clarified “this decision actually means that we have a movement.”

She stated, “You need to be clear that ten years ago we could not get a man like Harvey Weinstein into a courtroom.”

“This is not a blow to the movement,” she subsequently stated. It is a call for clarity, and we are ready to respond.