THE growing scandal of Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment of women over 30 years continued yesterday as his wife, English clothes designer Georgina Chapman, announced that she was leaving him.
Weinstein then released a statement saying that he had encouraged her to leave and hoped they would be reconciled “when I get better” – believed to be a reference to the counselling he is reported to be undertaking.
Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday joined the condemnation, leading to thoughts that the American could be stripped of his honorary CBE “for services to the British film industry”.
That industry also reacted yesterday – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) announced that it has suspended Weinstein’s membership.
Their statement said: “Whilst Bafta has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein’s support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with Bafta’s values.”
An open letter to the Prime Minister has been signed by Labour shadow ministers Chi Onwurah, Jack Dromey, Dawn Butler and Kevin Brennan and the head of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party Jess Phillips, describing the accusations against Weinstein as “unacceptable and intolerable”.
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said: “The reports over the recent days are deeply concerning. Any unwanted sexual activity is completely unacceptable.
“Any allegation should be fully investigated. Anyone who comes forward to report these kind of allegations should be praised for their courage.
“The independent Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases where the honours system has been brought into disrepute, their discussions are confidential. It’s right that we let them get on with their work.”
Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have also condemned Weinstein, saying that they were “disgusted” by the reports.
Weinstein, 65, has already issued a blanket apology and admitted he had caused a lot of pain to the actresses and other women he harassed.
The multi-Oscar-winning producer has seen the number and severity of the allegations against him growing by the day, with stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie asserting that they were victims.
Jolie said in an email to the New York Times: “I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did.
“This behaviour towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.”
The most serious allegations against Weinstein – those of sexual assault – have been denied by the producer whose Miramax company was one of the most successful film production operations in the 1990s and 2000s.
Weinstein’s spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the allegations of sexual assault.
She said: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein who has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.
“Mr Weinstein obviously can’t speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr Weinstein has begun counselling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here