Prosecutors on Wednesday portrayed former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as a serial predator who used his power to manipulate and sexually assault young women, while the defence argued that his accusers engaged in consensual sex that they later reframed as attacks.

During opening statements in the high-profile rape case, New York prosecutors accused Weinstein of committing violent attacks on aspiring actresses who suffered shame and humiliation as they struggled to deal with the trauma of the encounters.

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Defence lawyers countered that emails from the accusers to Weinstein would show they maintained warm relations, which could undermine a case that appears to rely primarily on the testimony of the accusers.

Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting two women, Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault.

The trial is a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement, in which women have gone public with allegations against powerful men in business and politics.

"The man seated right there was not just a titan in Hollywood, he was a rapist," said Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast as Weinstein looked on from the defence table.

She described in detail Weinstein's alleged attacks on former production assistant Haleyi and actress Mann, as well as on actress Annabella Sciorra.

Sciorra's allegation is too old to be the basis of a separate charge but is being used by prosecutors to establish a pattern of serious sex crimes against multiple women. She is expected to testify on Thursday.

Graphic details of allegations

Hast told a jury of seven men and five women that Weinstein manipulated women with promises to open doors in Hollywood, coaxing them to hotel rooms or private apartments and then overpowering and violently attacking them.

One female juror seemed to wince at the graphic details, which included Hast recounting Weinstein forcibly performing oral sex on Haleyi, yanking out her tampon.

Weinstein's lawyer, Damon Cheronis, said the evidence would show that consensual interactions were being re-labelled as attacks.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon arrives with Lance Maerov, a former Weinstein company executive, who testified at the trial on Wednesday [Jeenah Moon/Getty Images/AFP]

Haleyi got in touch with Weinstein multiple times after the alleged assault, including once to "reminisce" about their time together in 2006, Cheronis said.

The lawyer claimed Mann repeatedly sought out Weinstein's company and told the producer she loved him and even wanted him to meet her mother.

"You don't call Harvey Weinstein a predator in 2020 when you want to introduce him to your mother in 2015," he said.

Hast cautioned jurors that rape was not a "back-alley" attack at the hands of a stranger. She promised to bring in an expert to explain that victims are often assaulted by someone they know and do not report the crime.

Victims even "reach back out to their attacker," she said.

Since 2017, more than 80 women, including many famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

The once-powerful and feared executive brought to the screen such Oscar-winning movies as Pulp Fiction, The King's Speech, Shakespeare in Love and Chicago and hobnobbed with the elite in Hollywood and beyond, a point prosecutors made by showing jurors a photo of Weinstein with former President Bill Clinton.

The trial began on January 6 and could last about six weeks.

Regardless of the outcome, Weinstein faces additional charges in California.

Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced on January 6 that Weinstein had been charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in 2013.