In this courtroom drawing, Harvey Weinstein, center, sits at the defense table surrounded by his attorneys as jurors file out of the courtroom after being told by the judge to go back and keep deliberating in Weinstein's rape case, Friday, Feb. 21, 2020, at Manhattan Supreme Court in New York. Earlier they sent out a note saying they were deadlocked on two charges. Attorney Gloria Allred, foreground left, is seated in the gallery behind Weinstein.

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday at his sexual assault trial, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement.

The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers of rapes, sexual assaults, lewd propositions and that's-Hollywood excuses from Weinstein about how the casting couch works.

The conviction was seen as a long-overdue reckoning for Weinstein after years of whispers about his behavior turned into a torrent of accusations in 2017 that destroyed his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to encourage women to come forward and hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct.

The jury of seven men and five women took five days to find him guilty.