Harvey Weinstein Splits with Lawyer Handling NYT Lawsuit, Suit Not Yet Filed

Harvey Weinstein has lost yet another member of his legal team: Charles Harder, who Weinstein retained to file a lawsuit against the New York Times after the paper released a report detailing eight settlements with women who accused the ex-mogul of harassing them, is no longer part of the team.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Weinstein fired Harder because he was dissatisfied with Harder’s handling of the story.

A second source, however, disputed that account, saying that Harder withdrew from representing Weinstein on Tuesday morning. This source states that Harder was asked to stay on, and declined.

Either way, the lawsuit against the paper had not yet been filed when Harder left, casting doubt on whether it will go forward.

Harder first confirmed that he was planning on suing the NYT on Weinstein’s behalf just a few days after the exposé was published. He said that the report was “saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein.”

Harder’s exit comes on the heels of the resignations of attorneys Lisa Bloom and Lanny Davis. Weinstein recently retained Patty Glaser to represent him in his dealings with The Weinstein Company, while adding Blair Berk and, reportedly, David Chesnoff to his team.

Harder is best known as representing Hulk Hogan in his suit against Gawker, which eventually brought down the blog site.

Weinstein has taken a long fall from grace, most recently being expelled from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The London Metropolitan Police has also opened an investigation into the producer after two women came forward, one alleging that he assaulted her in the 1980s and the other in the mid-2000s. Numerous women have come forward since the expose claiming that Weinstein harassed them, and Weinstein was also fired last week from the company he helped found.

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