Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to accuse film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, spoke out about the New York appeals court’s decision to overturn Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on Thursday.
“This today is an act of institutional betrayal,” Judd said at an event at the UN for workplace safety on Thursday, CNN reported. “Our institutions betray survivors of male sexual violence.”
Judd was among a number of other women who accused Weinstein of sexual harassment in a New York Times article in 2017, giving rise to the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. The following year, Judd filed a lawsuit against Weinstein alleging that he defamed her in 1988 after she refused sexual advances.
In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted of criminal sexual act and rape, and sentenced to 23 years in prison. But on Thursday, New York Court of Appeals overturned the conviction on the grounds that the trial prejudiced him with ”egregious” improper rulings, including by letting women testify about allegations that weren’t related to the case.
“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s decision said.
The high court ordered a new trial for the ex-movie mogul, which could force his accusers to have to relive their trauma on the witness stand all over again.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Judd continued to share her thoughts on the overturn of the ruling: “The misguided opinion of 4 judges today does not change what we survivors know, and we acknowledge the fierceness of the minority opinion. The truth is consistent.”
Her comments were echoed by other sexual assault survivors and Weinstein accusers, including California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
“This is a very sad day for countless women who suffered at the hands of a serial predator,” Siebel Newsom said, according to CNN. “Harvey Weinstein is a serial predator and rapist. The bravery of the women who came forward ensures that regardless of what happens in New York, Weinstein will die in prison.”
Weinstein, 72, has denied claims that he engaged sexual acts that were not consensual.
He has been serving his 23-year sentence at a New York prison and will remain in prison because of a separate 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles that sentenced him to 16 years in prison.