NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have chosen to drop a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein rather than take the case to trial for a fourth time. The accuser at the center of the charge supported Thursday’s decision, bringing one significant piece of a landmark #MeToo-era prosecution to a close.
The move does not erase Weinstein’s criminal record. The 74-year-old has been found guilty of sex crimes in two separate states and remains in custody while he appeals those verdicts.
Here is a breakdown of where things stand:
Jessica Mann, a hairstylist and actor who accused Weinstein of raping her in a New York hotel room in 2013, submitted a letter to the court stating she “could no longer endure going through this.”
Mann, 40, had already provided extensive and emotional testimony across three separate trials. One of those trials resulted in a conviction that was later overturned for reasons unrelated to her testimony. The two retrials that followed both ended with juries unable to reach a verdict.
In her letter, Mann wrote that she “gave my all” to the case, but that it “put me through more harm than good,” and that she was ready to move on from this chapter of her life.
Prosecutors stated they believed Mann and felt confident in the strength of their case, but agreed to drop the charge out of respect for her wishes and in light of Weinstein’s convictions on other counts.
Weinstein’s legal team argued the charge should never have been filed to begin with. Weinstein denies the allegation, and his attorneys have maintained the encounter was part of a consensual relationship that lasted several years. Mann, however, testified that early in that relationship, Weinstein forced himself on her after backing her into a corner in a Manhattan hotel room, grabbing her arms and disregarding her repeated requests to stop.
Mann’s allegation was among several criminal charges that grew out of a wave of sexual misconduct accusations that surfaced against Weinstein in 2017. Weinstein is an Oscar-winning producer who held enormous influence in Hollywood. Those accusations helped fuel the broader #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment.
Weinstein faced trial on multiple charges in both New York and California, resulting in some convictions and some acquittals. The dismissal tied to Mann’s allegation has no bearing on his other convictions, which involve different women.
Weinstein, who has stated he “never assaulted anyone,” is contesting those convictions. He was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian actor-model in Los Angeles, and of sexually assaulting Miriam Haley — a production assistant and producer — in New York.
The Associated Press does not name individuals who report being sexually assaulted unless they have chosen to make their identities public, as both Mann and Haley have done.
Weinstein is scheduled to be sentenced in September on the conviction connected to Haley — a verdict that came out of a 2025 retrial after an appeals court threw out an earlier conviction. Haley testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her after inviting her to stop by his Manhattan apartment before a flight in July 2006.
Prosecutors are asking for a 20-year prison sentence on that conviction. Weinstein’s attorneys say they have not yet determined what sentence they will request on his behalf.
Following whatever sentence Weinstein receives in New York, he is also facing a 16-year sentence in California.
