New York prosecutors to drop unresolved rape charge against Harvey Weinstein

NEW YORK PROSECUTORS today said they will drop a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein, instead of trying the former movie mogul for a fourth time in the MeToo-era case.

Weinstein still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he is still behind bars.

But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries.

The Oscar-winning producer denies all the accusations.

The charge concerned an allegation that he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.

Mann has given evidence that she also had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with Weinstein, who was married at the time.

But she told jurors she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to any sexual activity as he cornered her in the hotel room.

She said he persevered, demanding that she undress and grabbing her arms, until she was afraid to keep protesting.

“After a lot of thought and reflection, I have chosen not to proceed with a fourth trial against Harvey Weinstein,” Mann wrote in a letter that a prosecutor read to the court.

“It was clear to me at this last trial I could no longer endure going through this any longer.”

The most recent trial took a visible toll on Mann (40), who gave evidence for five days and was questioned for the first time about a diary-like, soul-baring note she wrote two days after the alleged rape, which the note did not mention.

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At one point during her evidence Mann said she was struggling to focus, prompting the court to end early for the day.

Weinstein (74) meanwhile, reported chest pains during deliberations, spurring another early end.

Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said on Thursday that prosecutors believe Mann and praised her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate”.

Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most powerful figures, a producer of such tastemakers and hits as Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction and Chocolat.

Then a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fuelling the MeToo campaign for accountability and eventually leading to criminal charges.

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann. An appeals court overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her evidence.

Jury deliberations broke down at a 2025 retrial, and jurors deadlocked again at another retrial this spring.

The rape charge in this case was a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison – less time than Weinstein already has served.

He faces considerably longer sentences on the separate sex crime charges that produced convictions in New York and Los Angeles.

Weinstein did not testify at any of the trials, though he complained during and after the 2025 New York retrial that it was unfair; the judge disagreed.

His lawyers have maintained that all his accusers, who were trying to go places in show business, had completely consensual sexual liaisons with a movie studio boss who could help them.

Weinstein himself has said he “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone”.