Michelle Obama is 'disgusted' by ex-friend Harvey Weinstein

'Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable'

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been accused of multiple cases of sexual harassment and assault by numerous actresses and female employees, with Academy award winners Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow being two of the most recent to come forward.

The 65-year-old has been fired from the company he co-founded after a New York Times investigation revealed that he had not only been sexually harassing colleagues but that he had also been paying off his accusers for decades.

Harvey Weinstein's wife Georgina Chapman has since left him and high profile A-listers from Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet to George Clooney have publicly condemned the producer and praised the women who have been brave enough to come forward.

Some of the latest names to voice their outrage were former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, who released a joint statement condemning Harvey, the man who Michelle once described as 'a good friend' and a 'wondrous human being', with their daughter Malia even interning with The Weinstein Company earlier this year.

‘Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,’ Obama released in a statement yesterday. ‘Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status.'

The statement continued: 'We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture – including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect – so we can make such behaviour less prevalent in the future.'