Harvey Weinstein still doesn’t get it. But he’ll have up to 23 years behind bars to reflect and come to some realization about the damage he’s wrought.
That’s the stiff sentence Justice James Burke handed down Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court following the shamed movie mogul’s Feb. 24 conviction: 20 years for a criminal sex act and three years for third-degree rape, served consecutively, far above the minimum five years and just short of the maximum 29.
Weinstein is nearly 68, so there’s a good chance he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison, rather than the ritzy Manhattan and Los Angeles apartments and hotel rooms he was used to until a host of brave women said enough is enough and publicly identified him as a serial predator.
“I’m innocent, I’m innocent, I’m innocent. How could this happen in America?” Weinstein whined when he was convicted.
Weeks later, he showed he still hasn’t taken responsibility. “To all the women who testified, we may have different truths,” went his rambling statement before the judge read the sentence.
Claiming he’d had “wonderful times” with the women he abused, he insisted, “I’m totally confused, and I think men are confused.” Mouthing “remorse of this situation,” he made his real feelings clear: He’s “worried about this country.”
What, because it’s been so cruel to such a prince of a guy?
As several of Weinstein’s accusers walked out of the courtroom, observers cried, “Justice!” Indeed. And it sends a loud message that men like Harvey Weinstein plainly still need to hear.