Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years in prison in #MeToo-era case after retrial

The sentence follows a 2025 retrial in which a Manhattan jury again found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sex act involving former production assistant Miriam Haley.

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Wednesday (September 23) to 15 years in prison in New York for sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley, marking another chapter in a legal saga that became closely associated with the #MeToo movement.

The sentence follows a 2025 retrial in which a Manhattan jury again found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sex act involving Haley. The charge stemmed from an alleged 2006 assault at Weinstein’s Manhattan apartment. The charge carried a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Weinstein has repeatedly denied sexually assaulting or raping anyone.

Weinstein's original 23-year sentence overturned

Weinstein was initially convicted in New York in 2020 of sexually assaulting Haley and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

However, New York's highest court overturned that conviction in 2024 and ordered a new trial, finding that the original proceedings had been prejudiced by testimony concerning allegations that were not part of the charges.

Prosecutors subsequently retried Weinstein.

In June 2025, a Manhattan jury convicted him of sexually abusing Haley but acquitted him on a separate charge involving former model Kaja Sokola. Jurors did not reach a verdict on the rape charge involving Mann.

Retrial led to new conviction

The 2025 conviction over Haley's allegations became the basis for Wednesday's 15-year sentence.

Prosecutors had accused Weinstein of using his position and influence in Hollywood to sexually abuse women. His defence has consistently denied non-consensual sexual conduct and argued that sexual encounters with accusers were consensual.

The case has gone through multiple trials and appeals since Weinstein was first publicly accused of sexual misconduct in 2017.

Another New York rape trial ended in mistrial

Weinstein's legal proceedings did not end with the 2025 conviction.

In May 2026, his third New York trial, concerning the rape allegation involving Jessica Mann, ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The jury was unable to agree on whether Weinstein raped Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.

It remained unclear at the time whether prosecutors would pursue another trial on that charge.

Weinstein also has California conviction

Weinstein is separately serving a 16-year prison sentence in California after being convicted of rape there in 2022. He has appealed that conviction and sentence.

The separate California case means Weinstein remains behind bars regardless of the outcome of the unresolved New York rape allegation.

A landmark #MeToo case

Weinstein's downfall became one of the defining events of the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to publicly report sexual misconduct by powerful figures across entertainment, media and other industries.

The allegations against him helped trigger a wider reckoning over sexual abuse and the use of power in Hollywood and beyond. Reuters described his 2020 conviction as a milestone for the movement.

Weinstein, who once ranked among Hollywood's most powerful producers and co-founded Miramax, has denied the allegations against him and has maintained that he did not engage in non-consensual sexual activity.