Fallen Hollywood filmmaker Harvey Weinstein surrendered to authorities in New York City on Friday, just seven months after The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed alleged decades of sexual assault, harassment, rape and other forms of sexual misconduct against dozens of women.
Weinstein was immediately arrested on charges of rape, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and committing a criminal sexual act based on two incidents with two separate women in New York, according to the New York City Police Department. Weinstein was taken into custody with an expected $2 million bond. He is also slated to appear before a judge later on Friday.
The charges came following a joint investigation between the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Meanwhile, separate investigations on sex crimes Weinstein was accused of committing in London and Los Angeles are currently being conducted. Federal prosecutors in New York City are also investigating sex crimes involving Weinstein, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Some of Weinstein's accusers, including two women leading the charge against the 66-year-old producer, Asia Argento and Rose McGowan, took to social media to voice their thoughts on Weinstein's arrest. Both Argento and McGowan have accused Weinstein of rape and were included in the first initial reports on his misconduct.
"Today Harvey Weinstein will take his first step on his inevitable descent to hell. We, the women, finally have real hope for justice," Argento wrote.
.@AsiaArgento: “After decades of abusing women with impunity, finally, the beginning of the end of Harvey Weinstein’s reign of terror. I wish I could say this brings me peace. Unfortunately, the damage he has done to women can never be undone. He belongs in prison.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 25, 2018
McGowan expressed her joy over Weinstein's arrest on Instagram when news first started to break on the matter on Thursday. "I, and so many of Harvey Weinstein's survivors, had given up hope that our rapist would be held accountable by law. Twenty years ago, I swore that I would right this wrong. Today we are one step closer to justice. We were young women who were assaulted by Weinstein and later terrorized by his vast network of complicity," she wrote.
She added: "I stand with my fellow survivors. May his arrest give hope to all victims and survivors everywhere that are telling their truths."
While appearing on CNN on Friday, journalist Ronan Farrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Weinstein's many years of alleged blackmail and sexual misconduct, praised Weinstein's arrest, calling it an "incredible and unexpected moment."
"One of the hardest conversations I had over and over again with these brave women was that in addition to the sacrifice they were making in telling this story, they didn't think they would ever be heard if they did take that leap, let alone to see actual accountability," he said.
Ronan Farrow, who won the Pulitzer prize reporting on Harvey Weinstein accusations, says this is an "incredible and unexpected moment." https://t.co/Oo9YiVZdDH
— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) May 25, 2018
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