Harvey Weinstein used his power and influence in Hollywood to rape women, leaving them terrified for their careers if they stood up to him, a court in Los Angeles heard on Monday.
Weinstein, now 70, used his physical size and his position as "king" of the film industry to attack his victims in hotel rooms, the prosecution said, as a two-month trial began to hear evidence.
"They feared that he could crush their careers if they reported what he had done," Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson told the packed courtroom.
Mr Thompson said jurors would hear from eight women who were sexually assaulted by the Pulp Fiction producer, who is credited with making the careers of some of the movie industry's biggest names, including Quentin Tarantino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.
"Each of these women came forward independent of each other and none of them knew one another," he said.
The jury will hear testimony from these women, including how they begged Weinstein to stop, but that he persisted in forcing them to perform sex acts.
Showing a picture of him and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Mr Thompson said the Hollywood producer wielded "power with presidential contenders".
He played jurors quotes from the alleged victims who described Weinstein as "the most powerful person in the industry", and "the king".
"Part of me was thinking should I just make a run for it, but he's a big guy," one of the women told investigators.
"He's big. He's broad. He's overweight. He's domineering," one said.
"I still wanted to work in Hollywood so I was afraid to do anything because of that," another said.
"I was scared that if I didn't play nice something could happen in the room or out of the room because of his power in the industry," yet another said.
In common with most victims of sexual assault, the women in the case are being referred to as "Jane Doe", to preserve their anonymity.
But one has been publicly identified as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of Californian governor Gavin Newsom.
Weinstein, who produced The English Patient and Good Will Hunting, is already serving 23 years in jail in New York after being convicted there of sex crimes.
He now faces 11 more charges from crimes against women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hotels between 2004 and 2013.
If convicted, Weinstein — who has pleaded not guilty to all counts — could be sentenced to more than 100 more years behind bars.
Widespread sexual abuse and harassment allegations against Weinstein began in October 2017, and his conviction in New York in 2020 was a landmark in the #MeToo movement.
In June, he lost a bid to have that sex crimes conviction overturned. He has also been separately charged by British prosecutors with the 1996 indecent assault of a woman in London.
In total, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek, have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault.
He says that all his sexual encounters were consensual, and his lawyer previously said the Los Angeles accusations "stem from many years ago" and cannot "be substantiated or corroborated by any forensic evidence" or "credible witnesses".
Before the allegations against him emerged, the producer and his brother Bob were Hollywood's ultimate power players.
They co-founded Miramax Films, a distribution company named after their mother Miriam and father Max, in 1979. It was sold to Disney in 1993.
Their hits included 1998's Shakespeare in Love, for which Weinstein shared a best picture Oscar. Over the years, Weinstein's films received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes.
She Said, a film about the 2017 newspaper investigation into Weinstein that sparked the demise of his movie empire, is set for wide release on November 18 in the US.
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
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Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
