Rose McGowan accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, accepted a $100,000 settlement at the time, and two decades later became one of the first accusers to go public, helping ignite the #MeToo movement in October 2017. Her own federal racketeering lawsuit against Weinstein and his advisers was dismissed in 2021, but Weinstein has since been convicted of sex crimes in both New York and California and remains incarcerated.
The 1997 Sundance Assault
McGowan was 23 when she met Weinstein at the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, during the January 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Her management team had arranged the meeting at the hotel’s restaurant. According to McGowan, Weinstein moved it to his hotel suite, pushed her into the suite’s Jacuzzi area, removed her clothes, and performed oral sex on her without her consent.1ABC News. Rose McGowan Describes Alleged Rape by Harvey Weinstein
In her 2018 memoir Brave, McGowan wrote that she “disassociated” during the assault and faked an orgasm hoping the encounter would end.2The Hollywood Reporter. Rose McGowan Memoir Brave Takeaways She consulted a criminal attorney afterward but was told she would not win in court because she was an actress who had performed sex scenes. She accepted $100,000 from Weinstein in exchange for not pursuing legal action, later saying the payment was her only way to establish that the encounter had not been consensual.1ABC News. Rose McGowan Describes Alleged Rape by Harvey Weinstein The 1997 agreement did not include a confidentiality clause, a detail McGowan says she only discovered in the summer of 2017.3The New York Times. Rose McGowan Harvey Weinstein
Weinstein’s legal team has consistently denied any non-consensual contact. Attorney Ben Brafman called McGowan’s account an “untrue claim of rape.”1ABC News. Rose McGowan Describes Alleged Rape by Harvey Weinstein McGowan has also said that after the incident Weinstein worked to have her blacklisted, telling producers, “Don’t hire her. She’s bad news.”4IndieWire. Rose McGowan Describes Harvey Weinstein Rape Book Brave
Going Public in 2017
For twenty years the allegation stayed largely out of view. In late September 2017, an associate of Weinstein offered McGowan $1 million to sign a nondisclosure agreement. She considered it, at one point countering with a request for $6 million, then instructed her lawyer to reject the offer the day before The New York Times published its Weinstein exposé on October 5, 2017. “I was like — ew, gross, you’re disgusting, I don’t want your money, that would make me feel disgusting,” she later said.5The Hollywood Reporter. Rose McGowan Says Harvey Weinstein Offered Her $1 Million for Her Silence6BBC. Rose McGowan Harvey Weinstein
On October 12, 2017, McGowan stated on Twitter that Weinstein had raped her. She has maintained she was the one who initiated the reporting that broke the story open, telling The Guardian in 2019: “I called the New York Times. I blew it wide open, not them.” She also named other actors she said had been blacklisted for resisting Weinstein, including Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, and Annabella Sciorra.7The Guardian. Rose McGowan Edinburgh Harvey Weinstein Me Too
Her memoir Brave arrived in January 2018. She referred to Weinstein throughout the book only as “the monster” to keep control of her own story.8The Guardian. Brave by Rose McGowan Review She described what she called a “complicity machine” of managers, agents, and handlers who she said enabled Weinstein for decades. “Everybody knew. I know that. I was there,” she said.9ABC News. Rose McGowan Alleged Sexual Abuse Harvey Weinstein Knew
The Campaign to Silence Her
Behind the scenes, Weinstein spent months trying to keep McGowan’s story from surfacing. As Ronan Farrow reported in The New Yorker in November 2017, Weinstein hired private intelligence firms, including Kroll and Black Cube, an agency staffed by former Israeli intelligence officers, to target his accusers and the journalists investigating him.10The New Yorker. Harvey Weinstein’s Army of Spies
A Black Cube operative, Stella Penn Pechanac, approached McGowan under the alias “Diana Filip,” posing as a women’s rights advocate working for a London investment firm. Beginning in May 2017, Pechanac met with McGowan repeatedly in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and New York, building a close relationship over months of calls, emails, and in-person meetings.11The New Yorker. The Black Cube Chronicles: The Undercover Operative10The New Yorker. Harvey Weinstein’s Army of Spies12Times of Israel. Israeli Who Helped Weinstein Undermine Victims
The operation was routed through the law firm of David Boies, who personally signed the July 2017 contract with Black Cube. That contract included “success fees” such as $300,000 if the firm managed to stop The New York Times article from being published.10The New Yorker. Harvey Weinstein’s Army of Spies13Deadline. Harvey Weinstein David Boies Fired New Yorker New York Times14NBC News. Ethics Experts Weinstein Lawyer Crossed Line Helping Snoop Reporters
Attorney Lisa Bloom, a civil rights lawyer known for representing women in sexual harassment cases, had been advising Weinstein at $895 per hour. A 2016 memo later revealed by the book She Said showed Bloom writing to Weinstein: “I feel equipped to help you against the Roses of the world, because I have represented so many of them,” and proposing media stories to discredit McGowan online.15The Hollywood Reporter. Rose McGowan Lisa Bloom Should Be Disbarred Harvey Weinstein Book Revelations Bloom resigned as Weinstein’s adviser on October 7, 2017, two days after the Times exposé, and later called the work a “colossal mistake.”16Los Angeles Times. Lisa Bloom Weinstein
McGowan’s RICO Lawsuit
In October 2019, McGowan filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The complaint named Weinstein, David Boies, Lisa Bloom, their firms, and Black Cube as defendants, alleging a conspiracy to silence, defraud, and discredit her through surveillance, illegal recordings, fraud, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The filing also alleged that defendants had planted drugs on her.17The Hollywood Reporter. Rose McGowan Sues Harvey Weinstein David Boies Lisa Bloom18Times of Israel. Rose McGowan Sues Alleging Intimidation by Weinstein Israel’s Black Cube
Weinstein’s attorney Phyllis Kupferstein called the suit meritless and described McGowan as “a publicity seeker looking for money,” pointing to reports she had previously requested $6 million to settle her claims.17The Hollywood Reporter. Rose McGowan Sues Harvey Weinstein David Boies Lisa Bloom
The case did not go McGowan’s way. On November 9, 2021, Judge Otis D. Wright II ruled that her amended complaint failed to meet the standard for racketeering. Her attorney had withdrawn from the case that same month, and McGowan, representing herself, missed a December 3 deadline to file supporting paperwork. On December 7, 2021, Judge Wright dismissed all remaining claims with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.19NBC News. Judge Dismisses Rose McGowan’s Lawsuit Against Harvey Weinstein Due to Missed Deadline20Los Angeles Times. Federal Judge Dismisses Rose McGowan’s RICO Lawsuit Against Harvey Weinstein and His Lawyers No appeal was reported.
Weinstein’s Convictions
McGowan was not a complainant in Weinstein’s criminal cases, but her allegations were part of the broader wave of accusations that led to his prosecution. Weinstein has been tried in two states.
New York
In February 2020, a Manhattan jury convicted Weinstein of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act. He was acquitted on the most serious charges, including predatory sexual assault, and was sentenced the following month to 23 years in prison. The New York State Court of Appeals overturned that conviction in April 2024 by a 4-3 vote, finding that testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the charged conduct had denied Weinstein a fair trial.21NPR. Harvey Weinstein Allegations Trials Timeline
At a June 2025 retrial, Weinstein was convicted of one count of first-degree criminal sexual act against Miriam Haley and acquitted of a charge involving another accuser. The jury deadlocked on a third-degree rape charge involving Jessica Mann.22The Guardian. Harvey Weinstein New York Sex Crimes Retrial Verdict A second attempt to try the Mann charge also ended in a hung jury in May 2026, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced it would not pursue a fourth trial. Prosecutors have recommended a 20-year sentence on the Haley conviction, and Weinstein is awaiting sentencing.23Deadline. Harvey Weinstein No Rape Retrial
California
In a separate Los Angeles case, Weinstein was convicted in December 2022 of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, and sexual penetration with a foreign object, all related to the 2013 assault of a European model at a Beverly Hills hotel. He was sentenced in February 2023 to 16 years in prison, to run consecutively after any New York sentence.24Los Angeles Times. Harvey Weinstein Sentenced in Los Angeles Rape Case In June 2026, a California appellate panel unanimously upheld the conviction but ordered resentencing by the trial court, ruling that the original sentence “cannot stand.” His defense has said it will seek review in the California Supreme Court.25Los Angeles Times. California Court Upholds Weinstein Rape Conviction Says He Must Be Resentenced
Weinstein, 74, is being held at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, where he has experienced ongoing health problems including heart trouble and multiple hospitalizations.26The Guardian. Harvey Weinstein New York Mistrial
Where McGowan Is Now
McGowan has said her career was “stolen” as a consequence of speaking out, a fate she says other Weinstein accusers shared.7The Guardian. Rose McGowan Edinburgh Harvey Weinstein Me Too She left California in early 2020 and has been a permanent resident of Mexico since 2021. At 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2025, appearing with her former Charmed costar Holly Marie Combs, she described her life in Mexico as one of “joy” and “adventure,” and said she had stepped back from public life to listen rather than talk. “There’s a point where I just got really talked out.”27People. Rose McGowan Shares an Update on Life in Mexico