Harvey Weinstein courtroom artist says he 'really withered away' during trial
The courtroom artist who captured Harvey Weinstein during his rape trial in New York City tells Yahoo Entertainment that the Hollywood heavyweight looked “withered.” On Monday, Weinstein was convicted on two of five counts, with the jury returning guilty verdicts for criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
Jane Rosenberg, a courtroom artist who has covered trials involving the likes of Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, John Gotti and El Chapo, spoke to Yahoo just hours after the verdict was read.
Rosenberg said her main struggle in capturing the producer’s likeness was a practical one.
“Trying to see him and not be blocked by court officers or his lawyers during the trial, that was always a problem,” she shared.
“But I started to get his likeness. It took a while, took some tries. But when I’m on a trial and I keep drawing the same person over and over I start to understand what their face is made up of, structurally. So it gets easier… I liked that he was all lumpy. It gave me a lot to work with. It’s easier for me to draw lumpy people than smooth, perfect people.”
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Though she said Weinstein’s demeanor varied, he was “very tense” as he waited for the verdict to be revealed. And despite his “lumpy” appearance, Rosenberg watched him grow thin, hunched over and “withered away” as the trial, which began Jan. 6, continued.
“He had various expressions,” she said. “Sometimes he laughed, sometimes he looked very serious and tense and worried. I just finished watching him waiting for the verdict so he looked very tense.
“It’s sad for me to actually see him wither away before my very eyes. From his arraignment to today, he just really withered away. He looked terrible. His pallor is gray, he doesn’t stand up straight at all… to me, it looks like he needs a walker, I don’t know if it’s real or not, but he looks pretty bad. Thin and gray. He eats Mentos all day. He keeps stuffing his mouth with those.”
Rosenberg added that she leaves any personal judgments about a defendant out of her work.
“As a courtroom artist, my job is to try to show it as I see it,” she said. “If something happens, I have to show that, to capture the emotion of the moment. If somebody’s smiling, I’ll try to show that. It’s not about what my opinion is, it’s about what I actually see.”
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