Hollywood has been shocked by the overturning of the 2020 rape conviction of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in New York, on the grounds that he did not have a fair trial. However, the 72-year-old will remain in prison.

“It’s a ‘tough day for survivors, but we live in our truth,'” said the Hollywood actress Ashley Judd in an interview with BBC News.

The New York Court of Appeals said prosecutors in the landmark #MeToo case called witnesses whose allegations were not part of the charges against him. The court said this meant he was unfairly tried for his past conduct and ordered a new trial.

The overturning of Harvey Weinstein’s conviction has been criticized by whistleblowers, lawyers and #MeToo activists as “tragic” and “regressive” for those who have been abused.

Ashley Judd, the first actress to publicly accuse Weinstein, said she was upset to hear a new trial had been ordered. He added that the court’s decision is a betrayal of those who have experienced sexual assault.

“Often those who have experienced it say that the betrayal and moral damage we suffer within the system is worse than the sexual invasion of the body we experienced in the first place,” Ms Judd said.

“We know what happened and the truth is one,” he said.

Gloria Allred, an attorney who represented Mimi Haley, the key prosecution witness in the case, said her client is considering testifying again “even though the deposition process was exhausting and re-traumatizing for Mimi.”

During a press conference held, members of the Silence Breakers organization, including Ashley Judd, said they will continue to seek justice for victims of sexual abuse and violence.