Harvey Weinstein sacked after sexual harassment claims
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Harvey Weinstein, the film producer accused of sexually harassing female employees for nearly three decades, has been fired by the board of his company.
The Weinstein Company directors said that “in light of new information about misconduct”, they had terminated Mr Weinstein’s employment “effective immediately”.
The statement was issued on Sunday by Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar.
Mr Weinstein had been informed.
The Miramax and Weinstein Company co-founder has produced a number of Oscar-winning films, including Shakespeare in Love, The King’s Speech and The Artist.
Following the New York Times report about the harassment claims, the 65-year-old apologised and said he planned to take a leave of absence.
“The way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it,” Mr Weinstein said.
However, he later disputed the report, which said he had reached at least eight settlements with women, and vowed to take legal action.
Mr Weinstein’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said that he denied many of the allegations made against him as “patently false”.
“He has acknowledged mistakes he has made,” said Ms Bloom. “He is reading books and going to therapy. He is an old dinosaur learning new ways.”
