Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer whose combative reign in Hollywood made him an Academy Awards regular, was on Sunday fired from the Weinstein Company following an expose that detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations made against Weinstein by actresses and employees.
In a statement, the company’s board of directors announced his firing, capping the swift downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers and expelling him from the company he cofounded.
“In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of the Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with the Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” the company’s board said in a statement.
Weinstein had previously taken an indefinite leave of absence following the revelation of at least eight allegations of sexual harassment uncovered on Thursday in an expose by the New York Times.
The board on Friday endorsed that decision and announced an investigation into the allegations, saying it would determine the cochairman’s future with the company.
However, the board, which includes Weinstein’s brother, went further on Sunday, firing the executive who has always been its primary operator, public face and studio chief.
Under his leadership, the company has been a dominant force at the Oscars, including the rare feat of winning back-to-back best picture Academy Awards with The King’s Speech and The Artist.
However, Weinstein’s status has diminished in recent years because of money shortages, disappointing box-office returns and executive departures.
Weinstein on Thursday issued a lengthy statement that acknowledged causing “a lot of pain.”
He also asked for “a second chance.”
However, Weinstein and his lawyers also criticized the New York Times’ report in statements and interviews, and vowed an aggressive response.
The New York Times said it was “confident in the accuracy of our reporting.”
The article chronicled sexual harassment settlements Weinstein made with film star Ashley Judd and former employees at both the Weinstein Company and Weinstein’s former company, Miramax.
Weinstein made his name with Miramax, the company he founded with his brother, Robert, in 1979.
They sold it to Disney in 1993 for US$60 million.
The company was a fixture of the 1990s independent film movement, launching the careers of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Steven Soderbergh, and winning best picture with Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient.
The allegations triggered cascading chaos at the Weinstein Company. Numerous members of its all-male board have stepped down since Thursday.
The prominent attorney Lisa Bloom, daughter of well-known Los Angeles women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, on Saturday withdrew from representing Weinstein, as did another adviser, Lanny Davis.
Pressure to act continued to mount on the board as more developments followed.
US Congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and US Senator Elizabeth Warren, donated to charities thousands of US dollars in donations they had received from Weinstein.
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