And necessary...
From the editors of People
Harvey Weinstein has resigned from The Weinstein Company board of directors, PEOPLE has confirmed.
Although Weinstein was fired as co-chairman of the powerhouse studio on Oct. 8, he had continued to hold a seat on the board until Tuesday. The disgraced mogul still reportedly owns 22% of the company’s stock.
Earlier this month, the board fired Weinstein citing a violation of the company’s code of ethics. The move followed a series of bombshell reports alleging that he had committed sexual harassment and abuse over decades. The producer’s attorney, Patricia Glaser, has challenged the termination.
In response to the allegations, The Weinstein Company said in a previous statement, ‘We take extremely seriously the accusations published in today’s New York Times about our Company’s co-chairman Harvey Weinstein. It is essential to our Company’s culture that all women who work for it or have any dealings with it or any of our executives are treated with respect and have no experience of harassment or discrimination.’
The company has been under the leadership of Weinstein’s brother and the company’s co-chairman, Bob, as well as its Chief Operating Officer, David Glasser.
The firestorm was sparked after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against the movie mogul came to light in an Oct. 5 New York Times exposé, in which eight women — including actress Ashley Judd — accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan, who later accused him of rape on Twitter.
The allegations were compounded by an investigation by the New Yorker, and ever since, several more women have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein, including Cara Delevingne, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
Following the initial report, Weinstein said in a statement that he was working with therapists and planned to ‘deal with this issue head-on.’ He has since been fired from his powerhouse studio and kicked out of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. His wife Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman has announced she’s leaving him.
Of the accusations, a spokesperson for Weinstein previously told PEOPLE in a statement that ‘any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.’