Embattled movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sued by New York state for creating a hostile work environment at the Weinstein Co that allegedly featured “pervasive sexual harassment,” intimidation and discrimination.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s lawsuit comes as Weinstein, 65, is seeking to sell his troubled studio to Maria Contreras-Sweet, a former Obama administration official, in a US$500 million bid backed by billionaire Ron Burkle. The suit may create a major obstacle for the deal.
Schneiderman said in a statement that the company’s sale might leave victims “without adequate redress, including a lack of a sufficient victims compensation fund.”
While the suit is not aimed at blocking the sale to Contreras-Sweet’s group, the attorney general said he wants to make certain that victims are not harmed by the transaction.
“Any sale of the Weinstein Co must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched,” Schneiderman said.
Weinstein, who faces a wave of sexual-assault claims stretching back to the 1970s, was ousted from his studio in October last year after the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine published accounts in which women accused him of sexual harassment and rape. He has denied any non-consensual sexual activity.
A string of actresses have come forward to accuse the producer of sexually harassing or raping them in exchange for career help. Actress Dominique Huett claimed Weinstein masturbated in front of her and performed oral sex on her in 2010. She sued his studio for US$5 million.
Actress Uma Thurman, who starred in some of Weinstein’s hit movies, such as the Kill Bill trilogy, also has accused the producer of attempting to sexually assault her in London in 1994.
“We believe that a fair investigation by Mr Schneiderman will demonstrate that many of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein are without merit,” his lawyer, Ben Brafman, said in a statement. “While Mr Weinstein’s behavior was not without fault, there certainly was no criminality, and at the end of the inquiry it will be clear that Harvey Weinstein promoted more women to key executive positions than any other industry leader.”
Weinstein will “vigorously defend himself” if Schneiderman seeks to “scapegoat” him, Brafman added.
The studio said in a statement that its board is disappointed with the lawsuit as many of the allegations were inaccurate.
There is no truth to any suggestion that the studio impeded its suitor’s access to the state’s attorney general and the company looks forward to bring the situation to an appropriate resolution, according to the statement.
In the suit filed on Sunday, Schneiderman seeks steep financial penalties from Weinstein, his brother and company cofounder Robert Weinstein, and the New York-based firm itself; victim restitution; and a court order that would invalidate non-disclosure agreements signed by women who had contact with the producer.
The attorney general is also demanding “judicial or other supervision” that will ensure the studio complies with terms of a settlement, and he wants to block any transaction that would strip his office from having legal authority over the company, according to the complaint filed in New York Supreme Court.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the