Rose McGowan Speaks Out One Year After Harvey Weinstein Convicted Of Sexual Assault

Rose McGowan, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, takes a long look at her life one year after his conviction. 

It’s been one year since disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of various sex crimes and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Rose McGowan Celebrates One Year 

February 24 was the one year anniversary of Weinstein being found guilty of five sexual assault charges. It was a tough day for former “Charmed” actress Rose McGowan, one of the first women to accuse him.

“I was sick,” McGowan told Fox News in an interview conducted on the day she refers to as the “anniversary of freedom.”

“All of the time I had to fight in battle and these monsters, what they were doing to me behind the scenes and to others, people don’t know what that was like, what we lived with…the stress,” McGowan added of the years before Weinstein was convicted.

Related: Rose McGowan Defends Matthew McConaughey For Calling Out Liberal Hypocrisy – ‘Hollywood Has Been Condescending’

McGowan’s Life Now

McGowan has long accused Weinstein of raping her at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997. And, she spent decades trying to bring him to justice.

Though February 24 was a difficult day for her, she’s doing well in her normal life now. And, it brings her comfort to know that Weinstein is locked up. 

“I feel great,” McGowan said. “This is the first time, especially since 1997, I have a free existence without this giant, obese monster on my back. I had to live with him shadowing me, terrorizing me, whether it be paying off journalists to trash me for years or hiring spies to infiltrate my life and steal my book.”

“I can honestly say that while the case still goes on, I am largely free,” McGowan added. “I’m shocked I’m still alive because people like me don’t live.”

She also had big plans for the night of the anniversary. McGowan now lives in Mexico where she says she’s found a sliver of freedom she didn’t get in the U.S.

“Tonight I’m going to go and sit on the beach in the stars and almost full moon,” McGowan said. “This has been the best year of my life.”

Related: Rose McGowan Wishes Hillary Clinton Happy Birthday By Accusing Her Of Campaigning For Rapists

She Will Continue To Help Women

As for why she’s continued to be an outspoken supporter of women who accuse powerful men of misconduct, McGowan said that it’s all part of what she describes as a “cultural reset forward.”

“For me, it wasn’t the ‘Me Too movement.’ It was a cultural reset. When you clean your closet out you make a big mess, then it gets clean,” she explained. “It’s kind of like that for society. We needed that, and for me, for years society had a lot of awful thoughts about me and I had some thoughts for them. I think we’ve all come out the better for it.”

Weinstein is currently in prison in upstate New York.

However, he faces other charges in California based on crimes he allegedly committed against five women there between 2004 and 2013.

His extradition for his trial has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.