Harvey Weinstein, Danny Masterson, Kevin Spacey to face Sexual assault trial next week

Los Angeles, Oct. 6 (IANS): The next sexual assault trial against former film producer and co-founder of the Miramax studio – Harvey Weinstein, is set to begin next week in Los Angeles.

It involves an entirely new set of charges, separate from the monumental New York trial that put the movie mogul behind bars for 23 years when he was convicted of rape and sexual assault in early 2020, reports Variety.

In Los Angeles, he faces 11 counts of rape and sexual assault, stemming from charges from five alleged victims. At the same time, Weinstein is continuing to appeal his New York rape conviction and preparing to defend himself from additional assault charges against him in the UK.

According to Variety, Weinstein’s trial will run at the same time and in the same courthouse as the rape case against ‘That 70’s Show’ actor Danny Masterson. In New York, producer Paul Haggis’ rape trial, and a courtroom battle between Kevin Spacey and Anthony Rapp, the actor who accused Spacey of assaulting him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old, will begin in the coming days.

Variety further states that in 2023, Shia LaBeouf will be on trial for allegations of sexual battery by his ex-girlfriend, actor and musician FKA Twigs.

They are just the latest to have their day in court. In September, R. Kelly was found guilty in a federal child pornography case, which was separate from his racketeering and sex trafficking conviction that earned him a 30-year sentence.

Earlier this year, Bill Cosby – who was released from prison in 2021, after his 2018 conviction was reversed, was found liable of sexually abusing 16-year-old Judy Huth in 1975 at the Playboy Mansion in a civil jury case.