Harvey Weinstein has surrendered to police in New York, where he will face sexual misconduct charges.
Harvey Weinstein in New York
The 66-year-old disgraced movie mogul - who has been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of women - arrived at the 1st Precinct police station in Manhattan at around 07:25am local time on Friday (25.05.18), where he will face charges alleging that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him.
Weinstein was carrying three thick books under his right arm, including what appeared to be a biography of Elia Kazan, the director of several classic Hollywood films including 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
The producer will be charged with first-degree rape and third-degree rape in one case, and with first-degree criminal sex act in another, according to law enforcement officials who spoke before Weinstein arrived in the city.
The victim of the rape case has not been publicly identified, but the criminal sex act charge stems from an encounter with Lucia Evans, who alleged in October last year that Weinstein had once forced her to perform oral sex on him during a casting meeting at the Miramax office.
Weinstein has already agreed to put up $1 million in cash as part of a bail package negotiated in advance, which he is expected to hand over today, and is also thought to have agreed to wear a monitoring device, as well as surrendering his passport so he cannot leave the country.
The producer has vehemently denied all allegations of non-consensual sex since reports began surfacing in October, and this marks the first time he has been charged for the claims made against him.
Over 60 women - including Cara Delevingne, Eva Green, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Beckinsale - have come forward to make allegations against Weinstein since the New York Times and New Yorker's exposes in October, which documented decades of alleged sexual misconduct.
The producer has largely retreated from the public eye since the allegations were made but has denied many of the claims.
His spokesperson previously said: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances."
Tagged in Harvey Weinstein