Harvey Weinstein accuser breaks silence on rape charge dismissal

Jessica Mann is speaking out about her decision to end litigation related to her rape allegation against Harvey Weinstein.

One month after Weinstein's third rape trial ended in a mistrial, Mann submitted a statement, obtained by USA TODAY, to a New York judge explaining why she has "chosen not to proceed" with the case for a fourth time.

"It was clear to me at this last trial I could no longer endure going through this," Mann said. "In my fight to see justice, it has nearly stolen a decade of my life and put me through more harm than good. It has changed me in irrevocable ways that I live with permanently – that there is no restitution for. A cost I have been willing to pay over and over."

Jessica Mann Harvey Weinstein accusations, explained

In her statement, Mann maintained her allegation that Weinstein, 74, raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013, noting, "When I first came forward, I chose the court of law for accountability. As a victim of a crime, I put myself through the highest standards of accountability, in order to seek justice. Standards not even the man who raped me had to meet."

"As a victim of sexual assault, what happened to me in court and the media - continues to remind victims why it is seemingly not worth protecting society from sexual predators, and why pursuing justice is better left a pipe dream. Why coming forward is gambling under rigged odds in favor of the house," Mann continued.

Weinstein, who has denied any allegations of sexual misconduct, was first tried in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years after being convicted of Mann's alleged 2013 rape and the sexual assault of his onetime production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. However, the conviction was later overturned when a higher court determined that the former Hollywood producer did not receive a fair trial. 

He was retried in 2025, during which a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing abusing Haley and not guilty of assaulting former model Kaja Sokola. The rape charge involving Mann resulted in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury, followed by a second mistrial in May of this year.

Jessica Mann speaks out, says alleged rape 'irrevocably altered' her life: Full statement

In her statement, Mann said she "felt it thrills Harvey Weinstein to beat the system he believed he is superior to" throughout his several proceedings. She also said "there's a lot about Harvey Weinstein that this jury didn't hear."

"He's a sexual predator who assaulted and controlled women for decades," Mann said. "Had the jury heard about his systematic pattern of emotional and sexual abuse, I am confident they would have convicted him of raping me. In the process of court I have been fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatized. I've paid the price of my reputation – something most would never sacrifice.

"It appears Harvey was awarded all the protections, privacy and power he can wield through his wealth, which have continued to allow him to evade accountability," Mann added. "This has not come without great personal sacrifice – and as history often shows – those who fight fair, often do not win the war. I stayed aligned to integrity, and transparency – I brought everything into the light. It is the only way to expose evil."

Mann said she has often "moments where I am deeply crippled by PTSD." She said "living with sexual abuse trauma is one aspect of surviving a crime," but testifying in court triggered "deeper re-traumatization and additional trauma" that "nothing could have prepared me for."

She also shared that she sustained a concussion "right before taking the stand," leading to a "change in my cognitive abilities." Mann said at one point, she "disassociated" while testifying, which she believes was her body attempting to "prevent me from having a seizure," a symptom of her Complex-PTSD.

Mann called the incident "humiliating" and said she is "certain the jury did not understand what they were seeing and why it was happening," further accusing Weinstein's defense of using it "to paint me as unstable." She also criticized Weinstein's team for referring to her as "The Darling of the Me Too Movement" even though "I have never considered myself a part of that movement."

"The court gave so many privileges to Harvey Weinstein that it makes accountability nearly impossible," Mann stated. "I have not had power or position in any of this. I have not had great wealth, nor have I had my own long term legal representation. I only had the courts and the ways it allows sexual predators to shield a jury from a magnitude of their actions and past crimes and charges – made justice impossible for me."

Mann said she never wanted fame and highlighted staying anonymous until she took the stand in 2020. She added that the jury was never told that she waived her rights to sue Weinstein civilly, which would have made her eligible for additional payout.

"I consider that unjust given they speculated about my character on this matter. It seems the integrity of my transparency would be 'unfair' to the man who raped me – Harvey Weinstein," Mann's statement read. "In all of this ordeal, I was treated as though I was the person on trial. By coming forward about being raped, I have been treated by some as if I was defiling the sacred sexuality of a man. Yet I was the one who had my sexuality defiled."

Characterizing Weinstein's alleged continued efforts "to get women alone with him" despite "several prior settlements with women who accused him of sexual assault" as "odd," Mann said his behavior does not match up with that of "a man who is falsely accused."

"I consider Harvey Weinstein – 'Jack the Rapist.' I can only hope that he serves time for the crimes he has been convicted on, individually, to honor the wake of women’s bodies he left in ruin – that were harmed on different days, different years, different times, different places, different eras, different ways," Mann concluded.

"If only the ill-intentioned walked around in dark anti-hero capes with their mission to take over the world embroidered. How wonderful it would be to distinguish collectively the forces of evil. How wonderful it would be to recognize a predator like the antagonist in a Hollywood film."

Harvey Weinstein rape charge dismissed, DA says

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced his office will not to retry Weinstein out of respect for Mann's wishes in a June 25 press release. "To be clear, we believe Ms. Mann's account and her credibility as a witness," Bragg said, adding, "we also shared our recommendation to the court that Mr. Weinstein be sentenced to 20 years in prison, which would account for the significant harms his actions have caused Ms. Haley."

Juda Engelmayer, a representative for Weinstein, addressed the news in a statement to USA TODAY: "Harvey is relieved by today's outcome. We believe this is the result that should have been reached from the outset, had the grand jury been presented with the full scope of the emails, text messages, and other private communications."

Engelmayer called Weinstein's prior sentence "excessive," and said Weinstein's lawyers "intend to challenge the prosecution's sentencing recommendations. Harvey has been a model inmate for nearly seven years, and we believe that record, along with the other relevant factors, should be given significant weight at sentencing."

Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in California, which he has appealed.

Contributing: Reuters