Harvey Weinstein won’t be taking his planned trip to Europe this month. A judge has rejected the disgraced producer’s request to visit Spain and Italy to consult on a stage adaptation of Cinema Paradiso, Variety reported.
In case you forgot, Weinstein is currently on $1 million bail awaiting trial in New York on charges of rape and sexual assault. Until the trial in September, the ankle-monitored Weinstein is barred from traveling outside New York or Connecticut without court permission.
Weinstein attorney Arthur Aidala asked Justice James Burke to permit him to travel to Europe for the project earlier this week. The trip would have taken place from August 12-22, and Weinstein offered to be subject to multiple forms of monitoring throughout the trip. Despite Weinstein’s humble offers and an appeal from Italian attorneys arguing that the producer’s talents were “crucial” to the success of the project, however, the Manhattan D.A.’s office was not persuaded.
The judge reportedly denied Weinstein’s travel request without explanation, but I think we can go ahead and file this one under “no explanation necessary.” All of us except Weinstein’s attorney, that is, who called the denial an example of “mob justice.” The attorney, Donna Rotunno, argued that Weinstein is “presumed to be innocent” and is just trying “to earn an honest living.”
“He has been blocked from working in his industry, and when he tries to earn an honest living, is denied by the court,” she said. “This exemplifies the problem with this current environment of conviction and punishment before trial, yielding to mob justice. That this is even a story is demonstrative of how low we have sank.”
Honestly, she might have a point, considering my initial reaction to that statement was, “Yeah, sure, maybe if we weren’t talking about Harvey Weinstein” — an admittedly flawed mentality which, after further reflection, I still 100 percent stand by. Carry on.
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