Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been fired from his job at the Weinstein Company following allegations of sexual harassment.
“In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company - Robert Weinsten, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Taka Ben Ammar - have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” reads a statement from the company’s board of directors, obtained by Variety.
Weinstein co-founded the film studio in 2005 with his brother, and has an ownership stake in it. It has produced some of Hollywood’s biggest hits, including “Django Unchained” and “The King’s Speech.”
Weinstein’s brother may take over the company along with David Glasser, the chief operating officer, according to Variety.
Earlier this week, Weinstein was reportedly lawyering up to fight two “potentially explosive” stories about him. The New York Times published one of those stories on Thursday.
Titled “Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein,” the piece details damning accusations from Weinstein’s current and former employees and associates, as well as actress Ashley Judd.
Judd described an encounter with Weinstein in which he “sent her up to his [hotel] room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower.”
The Times report contains a number of other accusations, including the claim that Weinstein reportedly enforced a code of silence in regards to his behavior and reached an undisclosed settlement with actress Rose McGowan. (McGowan did not comment in the article, but she seemingly responded to the report on Twitter.)
Weinstein did not deny the allegations against him, though he did release a statement addressing the reports.
“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go,” he said. “I so respect all women and regret what happened.”
“I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them,” he added.
The producer told the Times that he plans to take a leave of absence from his studio. Meanwhile, one of Weinstein’s attorneys, Charles Harder, told The Hollywood Reporter he is preparing a lawsuit against the Times on Weinstein’s behalf.
Harder said the Times story is “saturated with false and defamatory statements” and it “relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report.”
“We sent the Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish,” Harder said in a statement. “We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to women’s organizations.”