'Celebrate small victories that rise to the top': Celebrities react to Harvey Weinstein's sex assault case moving forward to trial

A New York judge refused to drop criminal charges against Harvey Weinstein on Thursday, and his sex assault case will move forward. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke set a pretrial date for March 7.

Weinstein’s attorneys called it a “technical ruling” and said Weinstein will ultimately be “completely exonerated.” They called the case — which involves five charges in connection with assaults against two women — “irreparably tainted” amid allegations that a police detective acted “improperly in the investigation.”

Amber Tamblyn — who attended proceedings with a group of other actresses (Marisa Tomei, Jennifer Esposito, Kathy Najimy, Bill Cosby accuser Michelle Hurd and Leslie Silva) and #TimesUp folks (including president and CEO Lisa Borders) to lend support for the disgraced movie producer’s sexual assault accusers — called it “a small victory” but allowed that “there’s a long way to go.”

News that the case is moving forward was the talk of Twitter on Thursday morning, as all things Weinstein tend to be. Here are some of the reactions:

Najimy posted from court, calling it a small victory but saying “justice is near.” The women all wore #TimesUp shirts to the courthouse but covered them up for court.

Mira Sorvino, who said Weinstein blacklisted her after she refused his advances, shared one of Najimy’s posts about justice being near. Similarly, Daryl Hannah, who also said she had denied Weinstein’s advances, retweeted a news report about the case proceeding.

Rosanna Arquette, who said her career was derailed after she rejected Weinstein, was also relieved the case wasn’t dismissed.

Borders spoke outside court, and this is what was shared on the Time’s Up handle.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Weinstein’s accuser Mimi Haleyi, told BuzzFeed outside court, “It appeared to me that they did everything that they could not to have to move forward and not to have him have to stand trial. However, that didn’t happen today.”

More reactions:

There were reports that Jennifer Lawrence would be in court, but her reps denied it and she ultimately wasn’t. Her name was dragged into the Weinstein drama after a new lawsuit revisited allegations that the disgraced filmmaker boasted about sleeping with her. She has maintained that she has “never had anything but a professional relationship with him. “This is yet another example of the predatory tactics and lies that he engaged in to lure countless women,” Lawrence said in a statement.

It’s been over a year since two back-to-back exposés in the New York Times and New Yorker took down Weinstein, and dozens of women went on to accuse him of sexual misconduct. While most of the accusations fell outside the local statute of limitations, he was arrested six months ago in this case. Even though one count of a criminal sex act was dismissed in October, Weinstein — who has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex across the board and pleaded not guilty in this case — faces life in prison if convicted on all charges. He also faces allegations of assault in Los Angeles and internationally.

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