Once all-powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial is set to begin a year after a New York appeals court overturned his conviction.

Harvey Weinstein's retrial started with opening statements on Wednesday in New York City, five years after the original trial was a catalyst in the #MeToo movement.The 73-year-old disgraced movie mogul is being retried on a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant at her apartment in 2006,

Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on rape and sexual assault charges got underway on Wednesday, as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer offered starkly contrasting explanations for the disgraced movie mogul's encounters with women who hoped to make it big in Hollywood.