Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape.
The disgraced movie producer was in court Tuesday in New York, according to The Hollywood Reporter, to enter pleas of not guilty on two counts of rape and one count of a criminal sex act.
Deadline reports the 66-year-old’s lawyer said at the hearing that his client “intends to vigorously fight these charges.”
The plea comes after Weinstein was indicted last week by a grand jury on the charges involving two female accusers.
One woman, who has remained anonymous, alleged she was raped by Weinstein in her hotel room.
The other woman, former actress Lucia Evans, has accused Weinstein of forcing her to perform oral sex at his office in 2004.
Weinstein surrendered himself to police late last month and is currently free on $1 million bail. His next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 20.
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TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey talked to The Star about Weinstein’s trial and the potential for a Weinstein-inspired horror movie directed by Brian De Palma.
“It reminds us of just the real importance and the urgency of making a change in the film industry when it comes to gender parity,” said Bailey. “I think we’d probably wait to see where this project goes and what it asks of us, but for us, really, what it raises is just the kind of harassment that had been happening throughout the industry.”
“Including at film festivals over the years, and how important it is to get women into more positions of power in the industry, telling their own stories,” he continued. “We’ve been doing a lot of that here.”
