The actress is one of more than 50 women who accused the disgraced movie mogul of rape and sexual assault. Photo: TNS
Rose McGowan is not taking the overturning of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction sitting down.
The Jawbreaker actress – one of more than 50 women who accused the disgraced movie mogul of rape and sexual assault – is calling on her fellow survivors to “stand up” against the “evil” she said “sticks together, as witnessed” by Thursday’s (April 25) bombshell ruling.
In an Instagram video posted Thursday night, McGowan told her followers: “I’m proud of how far we’ve come, how much we’ve awakened, what we know of ourselves to be true and what we know of others to be true.”
“No matter what they overturn, they cannot take away who we are, what we know, what we’ve gone through and what we can achieve in this life,” she continued. “We are not victims. We are people that were injured by evil. And the evil sticks together, as witnessed and evidenced today, but we are better.”
“Tomorrow, we will rise, stand up, dust ourselves off and look for every little ounce of joy and beauty in this world that we can,” the Charmed alum concluded.
McGowan accused the former Miramax chief of sexually assaulting her in 1997. Her account – described as “rape” in her memoir, Brave – was first published in a 2017 New York Times expose that sparked the #MeToo movement. Actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino are also among his many accusers.
Weinstein, 72, was found guilty by a Manhattan jury in February 2020 of criminal sexual assault and rape. He was subsequently sentenced to prison for 23 years.
But the New York State Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned the ruling 4-3, claiming the Manhattan judge “erroneously” allowed testimony from three women whose alleged encounters with the defendant weren’t directly part of the case.
Weinstein remains behind bars because of his 2022 convictions for sex crimes in California.
“They will never overturn who we are,” McGowan, 50, captioned her emotional clip. “Blessings to all who gave their all #spirit #courage #unity.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
