By Sam Dordulian, Esq.
When Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was overturned on a procedural error by the prosecution, the media declared the #MeToo Movement dead. When the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard verdict was read, the media re-announced the movement’s demise. And when one of Harvey Weinstein’s many rape convictions was overturned on an error by the trial judge, the media was certain that #MeToo was, once again, dead.
But when Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges in July 2025 but convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, the media rush to declare #MeToo really, really dead was swift and came from all corners.
Journalists mourned the movement’s demise. “Maybe Me Too Is Really Dead,” declared New York Magazine’s Andrea González-Ramírez, expressing despair that despite years of progress, juries still acquitted on the most serious charges. The Independent ran a similar lament: “The Diddy verdict proves #MeToo is dead and people still don’t understand consent.”
Conservative outlets celebrated what they saw as the movement’s overreach finally being checked. Fox News pointed to acquittals for Diddy, Kevin Spacey, and Johnny Depp as evidence that #MeToo had become a “wrecking ball” and destructive to the justice system.
Social media erupted with gleeful mockery. Outside the courthouse, Diddy’s supporters sprayed baby oil into crowds – a callback to allegations about his “Freak Offs.” The Shade Room’s 30 million Instagram followers flooded comments calling his accusers “304s” (slang for “hoes”) and declaring, “Cassie was never a victim.”
The consensus seemed clear: #MeToo is finished.
They’re all wrong.
I understand why survivors and advocates alike may feel defeated. When supporters spray baby oil outside courtrooms, when online misogyny goes mainstream, when juries acquit on serious charges despite video evidence of violence – it feels like we’re losing ground.
When NBC publishes a story entitled “With his ‘mystique’ gone, Diddy’s future in music after trial is uncertain” one day after he was acquitted on the most serious charges, it can be deflating. When that article goes on to note that “There may be a pathway for redemption and comeback – if he shows contrition and stays out of trouble,” it can be infuriating.
But from where I sit – in courtrooms representing survivors every single day – declaring the movement dead misses a fundamental truth: #MeToo’s greatest victory was never going to be perfect conviction rates in criminal court. It was changing what accountability looks like and who gets to demand it.
While headlines scream about Diddy’s acquittal on the most serious charges, they consistently bury the lede. Let’s talk about what actually happened:
During trial, Cassie Ventura testified that Diddy paid her a $20 million settlement for physical and sexual abuse. She testified to receiving a separate $10 million settlement from the InterContinental Hotel related to the 2016 assault captured on video. That’s $30 million in accountability that happened outside the criminal courtroom – and it happened because #MeToo changed the landscape.
Diddy was convicted on two prostitution-related charges and sentenced to 50 months in prison. He faces over 70 pending civil lawsuits. His career is in ruins. His “mystique” – as NBC delicately put it – is gone.
This is what the movement’s critics don’t want you to understand: The criminal courtroom was never the only battlefield, and it was never going to be where most justice happened.
Two Paths to Justice
Here’s what survivors now understand that they didn’t before #MeToo: There are two paths to accountability.
Criminal court requires proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” – the highest legal standard we have, and rightly so. When prosecutors make errors, when technicalities derail cases, when juries can’t reach that high bar of certainty, it doesn’t mean the survivor lied. It means the criminal system, with all its deliberately high barriers, didn’t produce a conviction.
Civil court operates differently. My burden as a plaintiff’s attorney is to compile a “preponderance of evidence” showing abuse “more likely than not” occurred. Survivors can pursue civil cases even when criminal cases fail. They can hit powerful predators where it truly hurts: their bank accounts.
Before #MeToo, most survivors didn’t understand they had both options. Now, they do.
The Numbers Tell a Different Story
The three charges Diddy was acquitted of have largely defined the narrative. But if we’re keeping score, let’s look at the full ledger:
Settlements that didn’t make headlines:
Civil lawsuits pending:
Criminal accountability that seemed impossible a decade ago:
If I had predicted eight years ago – before #MeToo gained worldwide attention in 2017 – that this level of accountability would exist, my colleagues would have checked me into a psychiatric facility. It was utterly inconceivable that powerful predators could face consequences.
The rush to declare #MeToo dead isn’t accidental; it’s strategic.
If survivors can be convinced the movement failed, fewer will come forward. If victims believe justice is impossible, they’ll stay quiet. It’s psychological warfare disguised as media analysis.
Conservative outlets celebrating the “end” of #MeToo want to return to a time when powerful men faced no consequences. Social media trolls mocking survivors want to restore the culture of silence. Even well-meaning journalists expressing despair inadvertently serve this narrative by suggesting the battle is lost.
But here’s what they all miss: The legal and cultural landscape has permanently changed.
The Real Battlefield
Every day in my practice, I see #MeToo’s actual power. It’s not in celebrity trials or cable news debates. It’s in ordinary survivors who refuse to let trauma become someone else’s secret. It’s in companies that now investigate complaints instead of burying them. It’s in the slow, grinding work of justice that happens one case at a time.
The legal system remains imperfect. Appeals courts overturn convictions. Technicalities derail justice. Wealthy defendants hire expensive lawyers who exploit every loophole. Cultural backlash is real and sometimes vicious.
But, none of that erases the fundamental shift: Survivors now expect to be believed, and increasingly, they are.
A Message to Different Audiences
To critics celebrating: Your victory lap is premature. The accountability mechanisms #MeToo created aren’t going away. Civil courts remain open. Cultural standards have shifted. You can mock the movement all you want, but you can’t restore the silence.
To survivors: I understand your pain watching acquittals on serious charges. But measuring #MeToo solely by criminal conviction rates misses the broader transformation. The movement succeeded in ways the courtroom will never fully capture. Your moment didn’t pass when Diddy was acquitted on the most serious charges. Your truth doesn’t become less true because someone else’s criminal case fell short of conviction. Your courage doesn’t diminish because the media moved on to other stories. You have options your predecessors never had.
To predators hoping this blows over: It won’t. The doors you thought were permanently locked have been blown off their hinges. The silence you counted on has shattered. The movement you desperately want to see die is alive in every survivor who refuses to let you win.
Why I Know #MeToo Lives
As someone who spent 13 years prosecuting sex crimes and the last 17 years representing survivors in civil litigation, I’ve witnessed how dramatically sexual abuse impacts victims. I’ve won over 100 jury trials in these cases. I know intimately how difficult each one is – how survivors are cross-examined, memories questioned, motives scrutinized.
The Diddy verdict makes my job harder. Defense attorneys will use these acquittals to sow doubt. Juries contaminated by “baby oil summer” memes may struggle to render fair verdicts. But here’s what 25 years in this field has taught me: Survivors keep coming forward anyway. Every week brings new clients who’ve decided their stories matter. Every month brings cases that chip away at the culture of silence.
That’s how I know the movement isn’t dead. Because the people it’s meant to serve – the survivors walking through my door every single day – haven’t given up. They’re still fighting. They’re still speaking. They’re still demanding justice.
And as long as they do, #MeToo lives.
The movement dies only if survivors stop coming forward. Only if victims decide justice isn’t worth the fight. Only if society decides sexual assault is acceptable collateral damage for protecting powerful people.
None of those things are happening.
So, to everyone rushing to write #MeToo’s obituary – from devastated allies to gleeful opponents – you’re all wrong. The movement isn’t dead.
It’s just getting started.
Sam Dordulian is a sexual assault civil attorney and former sex crimes prosecutor in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. For 25+ years, he has represented hundreds of survivors, won more than 100 jury trials, and helped clients secure over one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000).
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