Comment on How TIME100 Gala Attendees Reacted to Harvey Weinstein’s Overturned Rape Conviction

The world’s most influential leaders gathered to toast the annual TIME100 list in New York City on Thursday. While the night was a celebration, the day was also a sobering moment of reflection for many in the wake of the announcement that same morning that disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 New York rape conviction was overturned; Weinstein’s case was a landmark lawsuit that helped to accelerate the #MeToo movement. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] For some attendees, like media personality Don Lemon, the news was heavy, but ultimately an opportunity for the country’s justice system to live up to its values. “I’m not a fan [of Weinstein], but I will tell you, it’s our justice system and if they found credible evidence that something happened with the judge or the trial during the trial, then just like any other citizen, he should be treated equally under the law,” Lemon told TIME, later drawing a parallel between Weinstein’s right to a fair trial and Donald Trump’s current hush money trial. For others, like activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen, who helped to craft the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act after surviving her own assault, the overturned conviction was a disheartening reminder that there’s still so much more work to do when it comes to stopping sexual violence. “We all know as survivors that the courts fail us,” Nguyen told TIME.