Harvey Weinstein Presents Not Guilty Plea; Employment Contract Reveals Provision That He Has to Pay for Misconduct
Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to the rape and criminal sex act charges Tuesday as he appeared in court.
The Guardian reported that the once powerful film mogul walked into the New York supreme court in Manhattan looking pale and limping to respond to one count each of first-degree rape and third-degree rape filed by one woman as well as one count of first-degree criminal sexual act where he reportedly forced another woman to perform oral sex.
It was the first court appearance of the 66-year-old movie producer since his arrest on May 25.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The not guilty plea of Weinstein did not come as a surprise since he had strongly denied all the allegations thrown at him by dozens of women who came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct.
Speaking in front of the judge, Weinstein's lawyer Benjamin Brafman said that two of the sexual encounters that were mentioned in his client's indictment in late May were consensual.
"However reprehensible the crime of rape is, it is equally reprehensive to falsely accuse someone of rape," Brafman stated as reported by New York Times. "Mr. Weinstein has denied these allegations. He enjoys the presumption of innocence and vigorously denies these charges. He intends to fight them," he added.
Weinstein is currently free on bail while he waits for his trial that is scheduled on Sept. 20.
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a part of his employment contract urged him to pay The Weinstein Co. (TWC) a large amount of money for every sexual misconduct that the company had to make settlements for.
The part of the contract that the publication managed to obtain stated: "You and the Company recognize that, in addition to being indemnified for the amount of payments the Company is obligated to make as a result of your misconduct, such misconduct can cause significant damage to the Company which is difficult or impossible to measure. Accordingly, if your misconduct results in the Company making an Obligated Payment to a person damaged by such misconduct, in addition to the indemnification set forth in subparagraph i.(a) above, you will pay the Company liquidated damages of $250,000 for the first such instance, $500,000 for the second such instance, $750,000 for the third such instance, and $1,000,000 for each such additional instance."
According to the report, the portion of Weinstein's employment contract with TWC will be an important piece of evidence for the claims filed by his alleged victims, namely Louisette Geiss, Zoe Brock, Katherine Kendall, Sarah Ann Thomas, Nanette Klatt, and Melissa Sagemiller, since they are trying to prove that the company's board was aware of his misconducts.
However, the lawyers of TWC claimed that the provision on the film producer's employment contract could not establish the endorsement or ratification of his behavior.
Aside from the accusers that were already named, Hollywood celebrities like Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Claire Forlani, Eva Green, and Angelina Jolie, among others, also accused the movie producer of unwarranted sexual advances in the past.
