Gigi Hadid called as potential juror in Weinstein rape trial
Jury selection resumed Monday with approximately 120 potential jurors called
Model Gigi Hadid was in New York court on Monday as a potential juror in disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial, according to social media and multiple reports.
Jury selection resumed Monday for Weinstein, who has been accused of raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting another in 2006. The former studio boss behind Oscar-winning films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” has said any sexual activity was consensual.
Gigi Hadid, left, Harvey Weinstein, right (Reuters)
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When Hadid arrived, she sat approximately 20 feet away from Weinstein and said that while she had previously met the 67-year-old filmmaker, as well as potential witness Salma Hayek, “I think I’m still able to keep an open mind on the facts,” tweeted New York Daily News reporter Molly Crane-Newman.
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Video later showed the supermodel and influencer leaving the courthouse amid a media frenzy. As she left, she announced: “I’m not allowed to talk about jury duty. I’m sorry.”
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Hadid was questioned during an initial screening process, now in its fifth day, that has been stymied by a host of challenges and distractions.
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They include defense requests for the judge to step aside and for jury selection to be held in secret, both of which were denied, and a noisy protest outside the courthouse.
Both sides hope to deliver opening statements before the end of the month.
About 120 prospective jurors are being summoned to court each day. Last Tuesday, they were introduced as a group to Weinstein and were read a list of names that could come up at trial, including actresses Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron and Rosie Perez. Several other accusers have said they plan to attend the trial, which could last about four weeks once a jury is picked. Approximately 100 accusers have detailed their own allegations of sexual misconduct, according to The Cut.
Actor Rose McGowan, right, speaks at a news conference as actor Rosanna Arquette, center left, listens outside a Manhattan courthouse after the arrival of Harvey Weinstein, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
If convicted at a trial expected to last into March, Weinstein could face life in prison.
As his New York trial was getting underway a week ago, Los Angeles prosecutors announced new charges in a separate case against Weinstein. Those charges accuse him of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another woman there on back-to-back nights in 2013, days before he walked the Oscars with his then-wife, fashion designer Georgina Chapman, who was pregnant at the time.
Weinstein has not entered a plea in the Los Angeles case, which will be tried later.
Harvey Weinstein arrives at court with his attorney Donna Rotunno to attend jury selection for his sexual assault trial Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The Sunday before Weinstein’s New York trial kicked off, the filmmaker’s lead attorney, Donna Rotunno, was quoted in Vanity Fair as describing how the “pendulum is swinging so far in the overly sensitive direction that men can’t really be men, and women can’t really be women.”
“I feel that women may rue the day that all of this started when no one asks them out on a date, and no one holds the door open for them, and no one tells them that they look nice,” she said, according to the report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.