Harvey Weinstein has faced a jury in a landmark moment for the Me Too movement, with prosecutors painting him as a sexual predator who used his
"He was not just a titan in Hollywood. He was a rapist," prosecutor Meghan Hast told seven male and five female jurors in the rape trial against the former film producer.
Weinstein's lawyers are to give their opening statement later on Wednesday.
More than two years after allegations the trial is seen as a key point in a global reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful men.
Harvey Weinstein uses a walker as he arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court. Source: AFP
To activists, it is a long-awaited turn in their campaign for accountability, empowerment and frank confrontation with power dynamics in workplaces from Hollywood Boulevard to Main Street.
Weinstein's defence, meanwhile, has portrayed the trial as a time to reckon with what they see as a climate of accusation run amok.
Weinstein, 67, said little as he arrived at the Manhattan court on Wednesday.
Asked whether he believed he would have a fair trial, he said yes.
"I have good lawyers," he said.
Guided by aides and lawyers, Weinstein was not using the zimmer frame he has leaned on lately after a summer car crash and subsequent back surgery.
He said he was feeling better.
The once-powerful Pulp Fiction producer, who denies any non-consensual encounters, faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
Harvey Weinstein (centre) surrounded by court officers during an earlier hearing. Source: AAP
Actor Jessica Barth said the trial offers a chance to shine a spotlight on "the rampant abuse of power that permeates our culture on a global level".
"Not only the outcome of this trial but the trial as a whole, is precedent-setting," said Barth, a star of the Ted films who says Weinstein once invited her to his hotel suite and demanded a naked massage.
Though dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexually harassing or assaulting them over the years, the New York charges are limited to two allegations.
They are that Weinstein raped a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulted a different woman in his Manhattan apartment in 2006.
Backed by expected evidence from four other accusers, including actor Annabella Sciorra, prosecutors will attempt to portray Weinstein as a monster who used his power to ingratiate himself with women, sometimes promising a film role or other career advancement, before sexually assaulting or raping them.
"They will each describe their fear, their shame and their humiliation - the struggle each went through to push their trauma down and show a brave face to the world," Ms Hast said in her opening statement.
She detailed allegations that Weinstein sexually assaulted Sciorra around 1993 after giving the Sopranos actress a ride home to her Manhattan apartment and pushing his way inside.
"She told him to get out. She told him no. But Harvey Weinstein was undeterred," she said.
Harvey Weinstein and attorney Donna Rotunno arrive at court for a hearing related to his sexual assault case in New York. Source: AP
Weinstein's lawyers plan to go on the offensive, pointing to "dozens and dozens and dozens of loving emails to Mr Weinstein" they say show he and some of his accusers were in consenting relationships.
