LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Actress Rose McGowan has pleaded not guilty to a felony drug possession charge through her attorney in a Loudoun County, Virginia courthouse Thursday.
The judge waived McGowan’s court appearance and reading of warrant.
The actress and activist turned herself in to authorities in Virginia on Tuesday in response to an arrest warrant.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority obtained the warrant on February 1, 2017 after authorities allegedly found traces of narcotics in her personal belongings that were left behind on a United flight in January to Washington D.C.
McGowan tweeted about the warrant last month, asking, “Are they trying to silence me?”
“There is a warrant out for my arrest in Virginia,” she tweeted at the time. “What a load of HORSES**T.”
McGowan is one of dozens of women who came forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault.
Days after the New York Times and The New Yorker published explosive accounts last month of Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, McGowan publicly claimed on Twitter that the Hollywood mogul raped her. Through a spokesperson, Weinstein has consistently denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
Related: Rose McGowan responds to arrest warrant
According to a report published on Tuesday by The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow, police said a worker cleaning the plane found McGowan’s wallet, and in it were two small bags of powder that later tested positively as cocaine.
The actress told Farrow on Sunday that she was afraid when an airport police detective called her to retrieve her wallet, as she was unsure if he was actually a detective.
McGowan’s spokesperson confirmed to CNN the accuracy of her published quotes.
McGowan, who was traveling to Washington, D.C. for the Women’s March at the time, said the next day she received an Instagram message from a user she did not know that said, “You left your wallet on your Saturday flight with your 2 bags of coke.”
The “Charmed” star and her attorney assert that she left her bag containing her wallet on the plane unattended and she said she both filed a lost luggage claim and tweeted United Airlines for help when she realized her wallet was missing, according to the New Yorker’s report.
A source who worked at the Weinstein Company told Farrow that Weinstein in September enlisted the help of private investigators to get McGowan arrested before the existence of the warrant was made public. On October 30, McGowan first publicly responded to the existence of the warrant on Twitter.
McGowan told Farrow she has used drugs in the past, but said marijuana was her “jam.”
“Imagining I’m going into sisterly solidarity, I can think of nothing more opposed to that, energetically, that I would want in my body at that moment,” she said referring to the cocaine.
A preliminary hearing in the case is set for January 23rd.
