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The bombshell report published on October 5, 2017 led to the eventual arrest and conviction of the film producer Harvey Weinstein on charges of rape and other sexual misconduct.
Since then, it has been recognized as one of the early defining moments of the movement. #MeToo.
Within certain circles, predatory behavior of Weinstein had been widely known for some time.
Multiple reporters had been fighting to break the story: Reporter Ronan Farrow had brought the story to NBC News in 2016, but was rebuffed, ultimately publishing his exposé in The New Yorker five days after the Times conducted its investigation.
The list of accusers Weinstein’s eventually grew to several dozen women, from well-known actresses like Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow to women who had worked just one day at Miramax or the Weinstein Company.
Weinstein was immediately fired from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In February 2020, he was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to 23 years in prison. the accusations set off a chain reactionas more women filed sexual misconduct complaints against major figures in the entertainment industry, the fashion industry, politics, the world of sports and elsewhere.
In addition to publicly shaming several high-profile media figures and celebrities, the #MeToo Movementas it became known after the Weinstein accusations, forced many Americans to examine the power dynamics and institutional sexism that enabled powerful men in virtually every field to commit and cover up all kinds of sexual misconduct.
Some of the men who faced #MeToo accusations have apologized and tried to move on with their careers or simply denied the charges and kept their positions of power.
In particular, More than 20 women accused then-President Donald Trump of misconduct ranging from verbal harassment to rape.
Meanwhile, as new complaints continue to surface in workplaces around the world, it is clear that the Weinstein scandal was a key step in the fight to expose and eradicate sexual misconduct.
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