A jury for the Harvey Weinstein sex-crimes trial is proving especially hard to vet and fill—and a New York Times bestseller may have something to do with it.
Catch and Kill author Ronan Farrow took to Twitter Thursday night to tell followers that potential jurors were being eliminated because they had read the book, according to an unnamed source:
Source involved in Weinstein trial tells me close to 50 potential jurors have been sent home because they said they’d read Catch and Kill.
— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 10, 2020
Farrow’s book, based on his award-winning investigation into Weinstein’s serial sexual predation, was published last October by Little, Brown and sold 44,000 print copies in its first week, according to BookScan (via the Hollywood Reporter). It’s currently No. 9 on the New York Times best seller list for hardcover nonfiction.
USA Today corroborates the voir dire difficulties, stating that 38% of potential jurors—“most of whom said they could not be fair and impartial jurors in the Weinstein trial”—have already been dismissed by Judge James Burke.
The court will continue to screen jurors through next week. Opening statements are expected to begin Jan. 22.
Editor at Large Megan Labrise hosts Kirkus’ weekly podcast, Fully Booked.
