Harvey Weinstein 'seriously contemplating' testifying at own rape trial

Harvey Weinstein is deliberating whether to take the stand as his trial on rape and criminal sexual charges winds down.

"We're going to make a game time decision," his lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told reporters outside the courtroom on Thursday.

Weinstein did not testify as part of his 2020 trial in New York, nor did he testify at his California case for sexual assault.

Aidala noted that the decision to testify is ultimately up to his client and that one of his partners had spent the majority of the past weekend prepping Weinstein for possibly taking the stand.

"There is a part of him that is seriously contemplating, in a 'he-said, she-said' case, whether human beings feel obligated to hear the other side of the story," Aidala shared.

Asked how Weinstein is viewing how the trial is proceeding so far, Aidala replied: "He thinks that the evidence at this trial has been challenged very forcefully and that many of the complainant stories have been torn apart."

The former Miramax mogul is being retried on a criminal sexual charge and a rape charge that were overturned in 2024. He is being newly charged with a further criminal sexual charge related to claims from a third woman.

If Weinstein does not testify, closing arguments in the case are expected to take place on Tuesday.