A Weinstein juror was almost kicked off the trial for “reviewing books on predatory men.”
According to Vulture, a juror in the Harvey Weinstein rape and sexual assault trial narrowly avoided being dismissed because of [checks notes] her positive review of the novel My Dark Vanessa.
The juror had published a review of My Dark Vanessa—which tells the story of a 15-year-old’s sexual relationship with her 42-year-old English teacher (and doesn’t take the teacher’s side)—and noted on the same review site that she was in the middle of reading Le Consentement, Vanessa Springora’s account of being sexually preyed upon by the author Gabriel Matzneff when she was 14 to his 50.
The juror is herself the author of a novel of a book about “predatory older men.”
Weinstein’s legal team argued that the juror’s reading habits violated the court’s order against consuming media relating to the trial.
The case’s judge, Justice James Burke, denied the request, which (editorializing here) seems like the right call.
[via Vulture]
