Harvey Weinstein's defense compares him to Tiger Woods, claims he's a 'sex addict and not a rapist'
Harvey Weinstein's defense has compared the disgraced producer to golf champion Tiger Woods in order to portray him as a sex addict and not a rapist.
Weinstein's high profile rape trial ended up with closing arguments on Thursday. His attorney, Donna Rotunno, shared with the Manhattan Supreme Court jury, "Tiger Woods is a sex addict. You don’t see him in a criminal courtroom. Being a sex addict and being a rapist are two different things."
Earlier during one of the trials, one of Weinstein's friends Paul Feldsher was seen standing as a defense witness who claimed that Weinstein was a sex addict. Woods had checked himself into a Mississippi sex addiction rehab clinic back in 2010 after numerous women claimed that they had affairs with him. Woods had admitted to the rumors and sleeping around with many women.
Rotunno had made the reference to Woods after spending hours trying to discredit Weinstein's accusers. Weinstein's lawyers looked to discredit his accusers who had taken to the witness stand and try to portray some of the alleged assaults as consensual encounters. They also claimed that his alleged victims had sought out Weinstein for his fame and for career opportunities.
Weinstein, 67, is facing two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape and one count of a criminal sex act based off the allegations of actress Jessica Mann, former 'Project Runway' production assistant Miriam 'Mimi' Haleyi and 'The Sopranos' actress Annabella Sciorra.
Sciorra had claimed that Weinstein had raped her in the early 1990s. Rotunno had hit out at the inclusion of Sciorra in the case and claimed that it was just 'star power'. She also claimed that Sciorra only spoke out in order to further her career.
Rotunno claimed that Weinstein was innocent and had appealed to jurors to ignore 'outside forces' and 'use their New York City common sense' to find him not guilty.