Gigi Hadid dismissed as juror in Harvey Weinstein trial
Jury selection has entered its second week
Gigi Hadid has been dismissed as a potential juror in Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial.
The model had been selected as a potential juror earlier in the week but was excused on Thursday.
She was spotted shortly before 9am walking into the courthouse, trailed by a person who appeared to be her security. A few minutes later, she left the courthouse.
Court officials confirmed she was cut from the list of potential jurors, an expected development following the attention her presence in court had generated.
On Monday, Hadid told the judge that she had met Weinstein but could be impartial in the case. She also said she had met actress Salma Hayek, a potential witness.
Despite Hadid’s insistence that she could “keep an open mind on the facts,” the defence and prosecutors later agreed that having her on the jury would be too much of a commotion.
This is the second week of jury selection in Weinstein’s trial.
Weinstein’s lawyers have demanded the trial be moved out of New York City, citing “flash mob” protests in the streets and a crush of reporters and photographers that have turned the case into a “media and entertainment circus”.
The defence, having lost an earlier change of venue request, said the “carnival-like atmosphere” surrounding jury selection, coupled with the frenzy over Hadid’s appearance in the jury pool and social media comments by prospective jurors, showed Weinstein won’t get a fair shake in his hometown.
Weinstein, 67, is accused of raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on another woman in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty and has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
If convicted on the most serious charges against him, Weinstein could face life in prison.
Judge James Burke has said he expects a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates to be seated in time for opening statements and testimony on 22 January. He told prospective jurors that he expected the trial to finish up in early March.
Additional reporting by agencies