Harvey Weinstein's accusers say he avoided eye contact with them as he walked into Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday on day one of his rape trial.
The disgraced Hollywood producer was flanked by a team of suits, "thugs" and police officers, aided by a walking frame required after he underwent back surgery.
Dressed in red and armed with placards, a handful of the women who have accused Weinstein of sexual assault, harassment or coercion, including actor Rose McGowan, stared down their alleged abuser.
The women are part of the 'Silence Breakers', a collective of galvanising women who gave a face and a global voice to the #MeToo movement.
"I think he's taken some good acting tips," McGowan commented on Weinstein's frail and "cowardly" appearance during a powerful press conference outside the court. The former Charmed star says Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 1997, but said she stood in solidarity with other women who have accused him of misconduct.
"Dear Harvey, no matter what lies you tell yourself — you did this... You thought you could terrorise me and others into silence. You were wrong," she said. "We rose from your ashes. We rise together."
"He wouldn't look at us, he wouldn't make eye contact," added Sarah Ann Masse, who says Weinstein interviewed her for a job while dressed in his underwear.
"Nothing has changed."
"We weren't screaming, we just wanted to face him, but he avoided us," said actor, Rosanna Arquette, who says Weinstein threatened her with career consequences after she refused his sexual advances in the early 90s.
While the group's aesthetic uniformity was accidental, McGowan admitted, the actor said she liked the strength crimson represented: "This is us taking our power back," she said.
Regarded as one of the decade's most defining movements, at least 90 women have come forward with allegations against Weinstein, with claims of encounters dating back to the 1970s.
The producer is facing charges for non-consensual encounters relating to two women. Weinstein has denied all accusations and pleaded Not Guilty to the crimes of which he has been charged. He faces life in prison if convicted.
As Weinstein starts this trial in NY, in LA he has also been hit with new charges. Los Angeles prosecutors have announced he has been charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents over a two-day period in 2013.
This piece was published on whimn.com.au on January 7, 2020.