Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years in prison in New York
Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for sentencing for the 2006 sexual assault of a former television production assistant, New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2026. (EPA Photo)


Disgraced former film mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison following a retrial in New York on a sexual assault charge.

The 74-year-old Weinstein has already spent years behind bars. Manhattan prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison sentence.

The sentencing marks another step in the yearslong legal reckoning over rape and abuse allegations against Weinstein, who has faced criminal proceedings in both New York and California.

Weinstein has denied wrongdoing, with his lawyers arguing that the sexual encounters were consensual. In poor health, he has spent recent years moving between prison and a secure hospital ward in New York.

Weinstein was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York in 2020, but that conviction was overturned by New York's highest court after it determined that he had not received a fair trial.

The retrial ended with a split verdict in 2025. Weinstein was convicted on one of three charges, with jurors finding him guilty of a criminal sexual act. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge involving rape. Wednesday's sentence relates to that conviction.

The assault involved a former production assistant and took place in a bedroom at Weinstein's Manhattan apartment around 20 years ago.

Both Weinstein and the woman attended the sentencing.

According to The New York Times, the woman read a statement describing the impact the assault had had on her life.

She said she had been further traumatized after exercising her right to hold the former film mogul accountable, including by ridicule in the media.

Allegations of sexual harassment and rape against Weinstein by dozens of women emerged nearly a decade ago, helping to ignite the global #MeToo movement.

Women around the world, independently of the Weinstein case, subsequently came forward with their own allegations of sexual misconduct, fueling a broader movement against sexual harassment and abuses of power.

Weinstein was once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood and a fixture of the entertainment industry's elite.

He produced or helped bring to the screen acclaimed films including "The English Patient," "Pulp Fiction," "Good Will Hunting" and "Gangs of New York." He won an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love."

Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years in prison in a separate criminal case in California in 2022. A Los Angeles jury found Weinstein guilty on three sexual assault charges, including rape.

The case involved allegations by four women dating from 2004 to 2013, with most of the alleged assaults said to have taken place at hotels in Beverly Hills.

In June, a California appeals court declined to overturn the conviction; however, a panel of judges ordered that he be resentenced.