New York: Actor Rose McGowan and Rosanna Arquette lashed out at Harvey Weinstein in New York on Monday, just minutes after he arrived in court ahead of the start of his trial on charges of rape and sexual assault.
McGowan and Arquette are among the more prominent women to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
McGowan has accused Weinstein of rape, which he denies. She says she won't be in the courtroom because the pain would be too great.
But Arquette planed to be there to support his accusers. She had accused Weinstein of derailing her career after she spurned his advances. Weinstein has denied allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
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Weinstein, who has been pelted with several allegations of sexual assault, headed for a court hearing on Monday.
The disgraced producer was accused by more than 80 women for various crimes, out of which, 67 blamed him for sexual misconduct.
The Monday hearing looked into five charges of a felony against Weinstein and was scheduled to be held at the New York State Supreme Court.
The trial, which is expected to last till March, would be presided by Judge James Burke, who assumed his position as a state criminal court judge in the year 2001.
Weinstein's legal team intends to defend their client through evidence of emails and text messages that were sent to him by the accusers even after the sexual crimes were allegedly committed.
With inputs from APTN
