Supermodel Gigi Hadid is among the potential jurors in disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein’s impending rape trial.
On Monday morning, Gigi – a Manhattan resident – was one of more than 100 people who made their way into a courtroom in New York, where lawyers for both Weinstein and his accusers are working to put together a jury.
Despite saying she has met both
Harvey Weinstein and actress Salma Hayek, a potential witness in the upcoming trial, Gigi assured judge James Burke that she would be able to remain impartial and “keep an open mind on the facts” were she selected for the jury.
Leaving the courthouse, she told reporters waiting outside: “I’m not allowed to talk about jury duty. I’m sorry.”Weinstein is accused of raping one woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting another in 2006.
He has pleaded not guilty, and could face life in
prison if convicted of predatory sexual assault, in a trial that is expected to last until March.
The high-profile case is still in its early stages, but has still hit the headlines on multiple occasions, including when the defence requested for the judge to step aside, which was denied.
Weinstein was also reprimanded by Burke, the judge, for using his mobile phone in court.As his trial in
New York was getting underway a week ago,
Los Angeles prosecutors announced new charges in a separate case against Weinstein, relating to one allegation of rape and another of sexual assault.
The alleged abuse is said to have taken place on two consecutive nights in 2013, shortly before he walked the
Oscars red carpet with his then-wife Georgina Chapman, who was pregnant at the time.
He is yet to enter a plea in the Los Angeles case, which will be tried later.READ MORE: Harvey Weinstein's Reckoning: Trial Looms Two Years After #MeToo Wave The Testimony That Could Seal Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction Harvey Weinstein Facing Trial Is A Victory For Survivors Everywhere