Harvey Weinstein has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault as he appeared in court for the first time in formal proceedings, regarding the raft of allegations made against him.

The disgraced former Hollywood power-player appeared in court in New York City, after he was formally indicted last week on two counts of rape and one of a criminal sexual act. These regard separate incidents involving two separate women in 2013 and 2004.

One alleged victim told investigators that the mogul cornered her in a hotel room and raped her, while the other accuser, former actress Lucia Evans, elected to waive her right to anonymity and alleges that Weinstein forced her to perform a sexual act in his office in 2004.

Harvey WeinsteinHarvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the charges

66 year old Weinstein reportedly sat and answered a short series of yes/no questions from the judge in the Manhattan courtroom, asking whether he understood his rights.

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Weinstein is next set to appear in court on September 20th, although a number of similar criminal investigations are running in different jurisdictions and have not yet produced formal charges. He has denied all accusations of non-consensual sex.

Following the short session, Weinstein’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman said his defence team is set to “begin our fight” in the courtroom following the pleas of not guilty. The attorney added that Weinstein was “holding up reasonably well” and the case against him was “eminently defensible” based on what they have learned about the evidence.

Weinstein turned himself to a New York police station on May 25th, whereupon he was taken to court in handcuffs for his arraignment last week. At that point he was released on a $1 million bail in exchange for surrendering his American passport and wearing a tracking device.

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