Inside the tense New York court room where Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to rape

Disgraced film producer intends to defend himself ‘vigorously’ against accusations of rape and sexual assault

The dingy courtroom in downtown Manhattan was eerily silent the morning Harvey Weinstein arrived for his arraignment.

The onlookers assembled on the 13th floor of New York’s Supreme Court – a mix of reporters, activists, and paralegals who witnessed the commotion outside and decided to drop in – whispered anxiously to themselves as they waited for the disgraced film producer to arrive. Their heads swivelled towards the back of the room every time the double doors swung open, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who set off a reckoning on sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

The voice of a burly court officer cut through the silence, calling the room to order. A series of security guards filed into the room, and Justice James Burke took his seat. But Mr Weinstein did not appear.

Several tense moments later, one court officer murmured to another that there had been a delay. Mr Weinstein walked straight down the hall and past the courtroom. He had to use the restroom.

“You’re kidding me,” the other officer grumbled. “You can’t make this stuff up.”

When Mr Weinstein finally entered the courtroom – dressed in a black jacket and tie, walking with a slight limp – he uttered only three words: “Not guilty” and “yes”.

The first two words were his response to the charges of first-degree rape, third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act filed against him. A grand jury indicted him on all three charges last week.

Through his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, Mr Weinstein has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex against him. In court on Tuesday, Mr Brafman said Mr Weinstein intended to “vigorously defend himself” against all of the criminal charges.

“However reprehensible the crime of rape is,” Mr Brafman said later, “I believe it’s equally reprehensible to falsely accuse someone of rape.”

Mr Weinstein’s third and final word of the hearing – “yes” – was to acknowledge that he understood the terms of his bail, which had been set at $1m. He will be allowed to remain at home, bound by an ankle bracelet, until his next court appearance on 20 September.

Two women have formally accused Mr Weinstein of sexual assault in New York. One, actress Lucia Evans, claims Mr Weinstein forced her to perform a sex act on him at his office in 2004. The other, who has not been identified publicly, told investigators that Mr Weinstein cornered her in a hotel room and raped her.

Several other women have told reporters that Mr Weinstein sexually assaulted or harassed them during his decades as one of the top movie producers in Hollywood. Criminal investigations are also underway in London and Los Angeles.

Mr Weinstein’s accusers came forward after The New York Times and The New Yorker published Pulitzer-winning stories about the allegations, which stretch back decades, against the movie mogul. The reporting led to what became known as the #metoo movement, through which thousands of others shared their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment.

Mr Weinstein was subsequently kicked out of his production company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In court on Tuesday, Mr Brafman railed against the rampant media coverage of the trial, and accused the law enforcement community of “prolific” leaks against his client. He commended his own team for not revealing the name of the unidentified accuser, though he suggested her name may come out in the future, as a result of his team’s attempts to subpoena her records.

When the hearing was over, and the next court date set, Mr Brafman took his time gathering his belongings. The rest of the crowd – confined to their seats until Mr Weinstein left the room – watched anxiously as he sipped from his water bottle and walked down the aisle with his 66-year-old client. Outside, a chorus of camera flashes announced the pair’s arrival in the hallway.

As the paralegals and interns ran back to the desks they’d abandoned, and reporters dashed off to file their stories, at least one person seemed unimpressed by the spectacle of it all.

“It’s an arraignment,” says veteran women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who has filed a lawsuit against Mr Weinstein on behalf of an unnamed actress. “What did you expect?”