Harvey Weinstein Fell Asleep in Court After Hosting Super Bowl Party the Night Before
The disgraced movie mogul was at one time famous for his NFL watch parties at Sundance. But hosting a Super Bowl party in the midst of a rape trial?
KENA BETANCUR
Of the many shocking moments to come out of the Harvey Weinstein rape trial, one of the more bizarre episodes so far has been the reaction of the fallen movie mogul as actor Jessica Mann gave harrowing testimony in which she alleged Weinstein raped her.
Weinstein fell asleep.
Now it has emerged that the night before Mann gave her testimony, Weinstein hosted a Super Bowl party at the secret location where he is staying in New York.
The event, which Page Six claimed was attended by 60 people but his reps have portrayed as a smaller gathering, recalled his Miramax glory days; Weinstein used to have a tradition at the Sundance Film Festival of hosting NFL playoff screenings at a hotel, calling the parties the Weinstein Sundance Bowl.
Sources told Page Six that Weinstein “bemoaned the #MeToo movement” to his guests during the party and was overheard telling one guest that it had “gone too far.”
Another source told Page Six that there were about 60 people at the party, “including a lot of women.”
A spokesperson for Weinstein told Page Six: “Harvey held a small get-together to say thank you. It was his team of lawyers, both current and some previous, his personal attorney, and two friends.”
Weinstein appeared to doze off several times Monday during the testimony from Mann, who broke down to such an extent during cross-examination that the judge called an early end to her appearance on the stand that day.
Mann, the fifth accuser to take the stand at Weinstein’s trial, accused him of forcing oral sex on her and raping her in a hotel room.
The witnesses are among some 100 women who have claimed that Weinstein assaulted or harassed them.
Weinstein, 67, faces five charges, including predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape, for allegedly attacking Miriam Haleyi in 2006 and raping Mann in 2013. He has repeatedly denied all claims of nonconsensual sex.
Mann claimed during her testimony Monday that Weinstein had “extreme scarring” on his body. Young claimed he had “a disgusting looking penis.”
When asked to describe Weinstein’s penis, Young said, “It looked like it had been cut, it was not a normal-looking scar from circumcision.”
Jurors were shown a series of nude photographs of Weinstein taken by the district attorney’s office a few weeks after his 2018 arrest to provide context for the testimony.