Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to Rape Charges

Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges at his arraignment in a Manhattan court Tuesday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune. Last week, a grand jury indicted the disgraced movie mogul on first- and third-degree rape charges, as well as one count of first-degree criminal sexual act. One woman, who chose to remain anonymous, accused Weinstein of raping her in a hotel room. The other woman, former actress Lucia Evans, claimed that he forced her to perform oral sex in his office. Weinstein’s accusers join the dozens of other women who have come forward with misconduct allegations against him. Weinstein, who did not respond to reporters’ questions on Tuesday, has denied all charges of nonconsensual sex. “I think today is the first day of this process. We begin our fight now,” said his lawyer, Ben Brafman. “If we are successful, there may not be a trial.” Weinstein is currently out on $1 million bail, and is wearing a GPS-enabled monitoring device.