Actress Rose McGowan today claimed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was running a ‘rape factory’ and feared he would be exonerated in his New York trial.
The 46-year-old, who was one of the leading #MeToo activists after accusing Weinstein of sexual assault, also said she feared he would hire a hitman to kill her in the wake of her claims.
On Good Morning Britain, McGowan also alleged Weinstein could be ‘one of the biggest rapists in history’.
Weinstein was convicted on Monday of sexual assault and rape, more than two years after allegations of the disgraced movie mogul’s sexual misconduct sparked the global #MeToo movement.
The 67-year-old producer was acquitted of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault but faces a lengthy jail term that could be up to 29 years.
McGowan told GMB today the guilty verdicts were a ‘huge moment’ and that she hoped it would lead to more predators being convicted.
Speaking via video link in New York, McGowan admitted she thought Weinstein would be found not guilty.
Rose McGowan spoke on Good Morning Britain via video link from New York to give her reaction to the Harvey Weinstein verdict
Actress Margot Robbie posted a message on Instagram celebrating a ‘victory for survivors everywhere’ after the guilty verdicts in the Weinstein case
She also went on to claim he could be ‘one of the biggest rapists in history’ and alleged he was running a ‘rape factory behind the scenes’.
McGowan said: ‘This is a huge victory for all of us who have ever been effected by Harvey Weinstein. This effects so many. It’s a huge moment. I thought he was going to exonerated.’
‘I never really had hope you see. I realized the last time I had hope was the moment before I was raped by him and after that it became survival.
‘I didn’t have hope but not because of the jury, I’m very grateful to that jury for getting further than most jury’s get in rape cases.
‘I was worried, it’s hard to speak publicly about it without getting sued. But it’s an extraordinary moment and it’s a watershed moment.
‘It’s a never-ending kind of situation. This is an unbelievable achievement to have a woman who was raped by an accuser in court and saying ”you did this to me”. That is a privilege. There’s an astounding number of victims who never get any kind of measure of justice.
‘So, I found it, we were winning by even having it in court. That’s how little we’ve been taught to expect.’
The actress went on to say she felt ‘isolated’ and alleged Weinstein tried to silence her with a ‘machine of monsters’, even fearing she could be killed over the accusations she was making.
Harvey Weinstein arriving at New York City Supreme Court on Monday before he was found guilty of third-degree rape and committing a first-degree criminal sexual act
McGowan admitted she thought Weinstein would be found not guilty and said the conviction was a ‘huge moment’
She told GMB: ‘I’m really glad people are starting to talk about the trauma of it. You see people and you wonder why they disappear from the screen or their workplace, can you imagine having something so traumatic and you have to keep it isolated in your own soul? That’s a brutal form of torture.
‘He [Weinstein] very much came after me, he and his giant machine of other monsters. People he paid to do dastardly things.
‘Things that sound like they’re out of a spy novel but they’re my life. I was sitting at home thinking I should do the laundry and then thinking, ”I wonder if he’s convicted will he hire a hitman to kill me”.’
Speaking about how making such public accusations affected her career, McGowan said she was shunned by some in Hollywood.
She added: ‘It [my career] immediately collapsed. You get punished over and over again. You get punished by strangers who look at you with this knowing look in their eyes.
‘For a lot of women, I imagine they would look at how I was treated and say, why would I want to do this? For some, it’s extremely important to have a voice when they’ve been silenced for so long. Others can deal with it by speaking to people in their own life.
‘It was incredibly isolating and lonely. I would go to events and sit next to people in Hollywood who I won’t name, and they would turn away from me like I had something that they didn’t want to catch.’
Margot Robbie at the Birds of Prey film premier in London last week. She sent a message of support following Harvey Weinstein’s verdict in New York
Weinstein was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 (left) and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 (right)
Talking about whether a sentence of 29 years behind bars was long enough, she concluded: ‘For me, personally, I would just rather he ceased to exist. The world would be better off but I am happy there is one less serial predator on the streets.
It’s an incredible moment…It’s an overwhelming amount of emotions. Just this kind of flood gates of stress that are just starting to recede after being so high for so long. [But] This whole thing is a tragedy. None of this had to happen.’
McGowan summed up by saying: ‘I’m still in shock, to tell you the truth. I was really expecting to have to deal with a flood of ‘Is this the end of Me Too’ [if he had been found not guilty]…I’m kind of spun right now, but I can tell you the young girl I was, is giving a high five to the woman I am today.’
‘What this shows, is that the old ways of treating rape victims on the stand in trial by slut shaming them… but now thankfully juries will start to see through it.’
The guilty verdicts were hailed as a landmark moment for the #MeToo movement, with accusers, activists and attorneys lining up to congratulate prosecutors.
Margot Robbie posted a message on Instagram celebrating a ‘victory for survivors everywhere’ after the guilty verdicts.
TV journalist Lauren Sivan, who alleged Weinstein cornered her in the hallway of a New York restaurant and masturbated in front of her by a potted plant, also celebrated the verdicts.
She told Lorraine Kelly on GMTV: ‘Absolutely relieved and grateful this is wonderful news for women everywhere for people everywhere because this shows men will be held accountable for these types of sexual crimes.
‘So many women didn’t speak out and even the ones that did were silenced, he would trash them to other producers directors to prevent them from working again.
‘The sheer number of us is startling but so many of them couldn’t or wouldn’t testify and didn’t want to go forward because it is traumatic to watch those brave women be torn apart by his defense team – it was gut wrenching.’
Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first Weinstein accusers to go public with her allegations, thanked the six women who told the high-profile trial that the ex-Hollywood titan had sexually assaulted them.
‘For the women who testified in this case, and walked through traumatic hell, you did a public service to girls and women everywhere, thank you. #ConvictWeinstein #Guilty,’ she wrote on Twitter.
Actress Ellen Barkin simply named them in a Twitter post after the verdict.
Harvey Weinstein (center) being led out of Manhattan Supreme Court by court officers after a jury convicted him of rape and sexual assault on Monday
‘Right now Harvey Weinstein is on his way to prison. These are the women who put him away… Mimi Haleyi, Jessica Mann, Annabella Sciorra, Dawn Dunning, Lauren Young, Tarale Wulff,’ she tweeted.
McGowan tweeted immediately after the verdict: ‘Today is a powerful day & a huge step forward in our collective healing.’
Italian actress and director Asia Argento, who told the New Yorker magazine that Weinstein raped her in 1997, posted a photo of herself and another woman on Instagram.
‘Harvey Weinstein is now a convicted rapist. Two survivors cry and celebrate. Thank you God,’ she wrote alongside it.
Actress Rosanna Arquette paid tribute on Twitter to ‘the brave women who’ve testified and to the jury for seeing through the dirty tactics of the defense.’
Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, said in a statement: ‘The implications reverberate far beyond Hollywood and into the daily lives of all of us in the rest of the world.’
Gloria Allred, attorney for Sciorra and Haleyi, told reporters outside court that, ‘It’s no longer business as usual in the United States.’
Rose McGowan, who has said Harvey Weinstein will finally know how it feels to have ‘power wrapped around his neck’ after the disgraced film mogul was convicted of rape and sexual assault
‘This is the age of empowerment of women, and you cannot intimidate them anymore, because women will not be silenced,’ she said.
‘They will speak up, they will have their voice, they will stand up and be subjected to your small army of defense attorneys cross-examining them, attempting to discredit them,’ Allred added.
Some took to social media to express regret that the jury failed to convict Weinstein of predatory sexual assault based on the testimony of ‘The Sopranos’ actress Annabella Sciorra.
She testified that Weinstein raped her almost 30 years ago as the prosecution sought to portray him as a career sexual predator.
‘HARVEY WEINSTEIN HAS BEEN HANDCUFFED & TAKEN TO JAIL!’ tweeted actress Rosie Perez, who testified on Sciorra’s behalf during the trial.
‘GUTTED FOR MY DEAR FRIEND #ANNABELLASCIORRA WHO TOLD THE TRUTH! YET I CONGRATULATE HER & ALL WHO CAME FORWARD FOR THEIR BRAVERY. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH BUT SURVIVORS TAKE COURAGE! THIS IS STILL A GREAT WIN!’ she wrote.
‘#IBelieveAnnabellaSciorra,’ actress Alyssa Milano wrote on Twitter.
Journalist and former Miss America Gretchen Carlson simply tweeted: ‘I hope the handcuffs are tight…’