Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial ends in mistrial after jury fails to reach verdict

Harvey Weinstein's third rape retrial has ended in a mistrial after the jury said it was deadlocked.

A majority-male jury had been weighing whether Weinstein, now 74, raped former aspiring actor Jessica Mann, now aged 40, in 2013 in a New York hotel.

But in a note to Judge Curtis Farber, the jury said it could not reach a unanimous decision.

Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape in the third degree, and he has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.

The mistrial comes nearly a year after a different New York jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge tied to Ms Mann's allegations, which she recounted across five days in court.

Weinstein's lawyers ​have argued that Ms Mann made up the rape allegation after regretting that her consensual romance with Weinstein failed to advance her film career.

While Weinstein remains behind bars, the mistrial leaves the New York rape charge in limbo after three trials.

Read more from Sky News:
New Ebola outbreak in Congo kills 65
CIA chief visits Cuba

Judge Farber said outside the presence of the jury that it was clear they were "hopelessly deadlocked" and that there was no reason to keep them any longer.

He told lawyers for both sides to return for a hearing in June. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would seek ​to try the case for a fourth time.

Weinstein appeared expressionless as court officers ushered him out in his wheelchair.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office would "consider our next steps in consultation with Ms Mann".

"Her perseverance and bravery are inspiring to the members of my office, and more importantly, to survivors everywhere," Mr Bragg said.

At his ‌first ⁠trial in New York in 2020, Weinstein was convicted of raping Ms Mann and assaulting onetime production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006.

But the state's highest court overturned the conviction and Weinstein's 23-year prison sentence after concluding he did not get a fair trial.

A Manhattan jury then convicted Weinstein of sexually abusing Ms Haley at a trial in June 2025, but found him ​not guilty of assaulting former ​model Kaja Sokola.

The same jury were ⁠deadlocked on the third-degree rape charge relating to Ms Mann, and Justice Curtis Farber declared a mistrial on that count.

That paved the way for this year's retrial.

Weinstein ​was convicted of rape in California in 2022 and is serving ​a 16-year prison sentence. He is appealing that conviction and sentence.

The Miramax studio co-founder will face up to 25 years in prison when he is ​sentenced for abusing Ms Haley.

(c) Sky News 2026: Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial ends in mistrial after jury fails to reach verdict