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Harvey Weinstein Resigns From Weinstein Company Board
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 17, 2017
Modified Oct 17, 2017
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 17, 2017
Modified Oct 17, 2017
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A week and a half ago, Harvey Weinstein was fired as the co-chairman of The Weinstein Company after the NY Times revealed "decades of sexual harassment allegations." Now the once-powerful movie producer has reportedly resigned from the Weinstein Company's board.
According to TMZ, Weinstein was going to call into the New York-based company's board meeting from his stint in sex addiction rehab in Arizona. His lawyer, Patty Glaser, was reportedly going to attend to argue that his firing violated an employment contract.
After the NY Times story, which included details about at least eight settlements and harrowing anecdotes from former employees as well as actresses, like Ashley Judd, numerous women have come forward to share their experiences being sexually harassed and assaulted by Weinstein. Three women told the New Yorker that they were raped by Weinstein. [Weinstein has admitted to bad behavior but accused the Times of "reckless reporting," and also denied accusations of rape.]
Now, TMZ reports, "Sources with direct knowledge of the Board meeting tell TMZ, under Weinstein's contract after he was fired from the company there was a 5 day 'cooling off period' to let the dust settle. After 5 days the matter goes to the Board of Directors which then must ratify the firing. That's what happened today. The Board ratified Weinstein's firing. We're told under the terms of Weinstein's contract once the Board ratifies the firing he must resign from the Board. If Weinstein refused to resign the plan was to remove him -- in effect, fire him from the Board. Weinstein decided to resign."
There has been considerable speculation about the future of the Weinstein Company, which Weinstein co-founded with his brother Bob (the pair previously founded Miramax Films before selling it to Disney). Bob Weinstein spent the past weekend saying the company was in fine financial shape and not considering shuttering or selling—but then the company got an "immediate" cash infusion from private equity firm Colony Capital on Monday.
Weinstein still holds 23% of the Weinstein Company, and the Hollywood Reporter points out, "Analysts and finance attorneys say it won't be easy rescuing TWC, whose relationship with talent, agents and other Hollywood power brokers has been severely jeopardized. Also, TWC was struggling financially even before becoming engulfed in one of the biggest scandals in Hollywood history."
Attorney Larry Hutcher, a specialist in “corporate divorce” at Davidoff Hutcher and Citron, warns that Harvey Weinstein still has significant power and can potentially kill any deal simply by refusing to sell his 20-plus percent stake in the business. “He’s in a very favorable position because he likely cannot be compelled to sell his shares, and he has significant rights as a large shareholder. If were advising Colony, I would stipulate that a sale include Harvey’s interest, but his sense of entitlement might cause him to hang on, even if it meant the death knell of the company," Hutcher tells The Hollywood Reporter.
that Colony Capital will continue to let Bob Weinstein run Dimension Film, the horror genre arm of the company, but will remove him from leadership positions in hopes that cleaning house will help repair relationships with other partners.
On Saturday, Bob Weinstein claimed he thought that his brother was a just a "pervasive" cheater—he didn't realize he was trapping women in hotel rooms or forcing himself on them. He added that his brother had also subjected him to verbal and physical abuse, "I am not looking for one bit of sympathy from anyone. I do not put myself in the category at all of those women that he hurt. But it's a complicated situation when it's your brother doing the abusing to you as well. I saw it and I asked him to get help for many years. And that's the truth. He avoided getting the help. We begged him."
Today, Bob Weinstein was accused of sexually harassing the female showrunner for Spike TV show The Mist.
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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