Harvey Weinstein Kicked Out Of Motion Picture Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled Harvey Weinstein after holding an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the onslaught of sexual harassment and assault allegations directed at the Hollywood mogul.
The Academy’s Board of Governors voted “well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately expel” Weinstein from the prestigious organization, the academy said in a statement to HuffPost.
The board said it dismissed Weinstein, once a powerful film executive, in order to send a message to the rest of the industry. It also accused those within the Hollywood community of “willful ignorance and complicity.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors met today to discuss the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and has voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately expel him from the Academy.
We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.
What’s at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society. The Board continues to work to establish ethical standards of conduct that all Academy members will be expected to exemplify.
Earlier this week, the group described the accusations against Weinstein as “repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents.”
Saturday’s meeting was unusual, since the Board of Governors, which controls the academy’s membership process, typically reviews its current member list once a year in the spring. The group presents the Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, every year.
More than a dozen women have come forward with similar accounts of Weinstein’s unwanted sexual advances. Three women have accused him of rape. Several male actors have also gone public with descriptions of Hollywood executives’ sexual misconduct.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts suspended Weinstein’s membership Wednesday, saying his behavior was “completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA’s values.”
“We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry,” the BAFTA statement said.
“Shakespeare in Love,” a film Weinstein produced, won an Oscar for best picture in 1999. Gwyneth Paltrow won an Oscar for lead actress in the film; she shared how Weinstein had harassed her in a New York Times piece published Tuesday.
The Weinstein Co. owns the distribution rights to countless other Oscar-winning films, not to mention the more than 300 Oscar nominations Weinstein amassed during his time at the helm of Miramax and then his own company.
Hollywood is also moving to dissociate itself with projects tied to Weinstein that are currently in the works. Disney announced Wednesday that it removed him as a producer on the upcoming “Artemis Fowl” film.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said that “Shakespeare in Love” won the Oscar in 1990. It won in 1999.
Also on HuffPost
Ashley Judd
She told the Times that she thought, “How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?”
Gwyneth Paltrow
“I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified,” she said, noting that when Weinstein found out she told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, "I thought he was going to fire me."
Angelina Jolie
Kate Winslet
"I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naïve," she said. "And it makes me so angry. There must be ‘no tolerance’ of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.”
Meryl Streep
“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported," she said in a statement.
Rose McGowan
After The Weinstein Company fired Harvey, the actress and director called on the rest of the studio's board to resign.
"They knew," she said in a tweet. "They funded. They advised. They covered up. They must be exposed. They must resign."
Ben Affleck
Actress Rose McGowan denounced Affleck for implying that he didn't know of the abuse before this week, saying that the pair had previously discussed Weinstein's treatment of her.
"You lie," she tweeted.
Lena Dunham
"Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art," she wrote. "Mr. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but he’s certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behavior, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere."
George Clooney
"A good bunch of people that I know would say, “Yeah, Harvey’s a dog” or “Harvey’s chasing girls,” but again, this is a very different kind of thing," the actor told the Daily Beast. "This is harassment on a very high level. And there’s an argument that everyone is complicit in it. I suppose the argument would be that it’s not just about Hollywood, but about all of us—that every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you don’t speak up, you’re complicit. And there’s no question about that."
Jennifer Lawrence
"I worked with Harvey five years ago, and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting," Lawrence said in a statement. "My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward."
Hillary Clinton
Clinton said that she "was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."
Barack and Michelle Obama
"Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein," the Obamas said in a statement. "Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture -- including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect -- so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."
Judi Dench
"Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and whole-hearted support to those who have spoken out," she said in a statement.
Leonardo DiCaprio
"There is no excuse for sexual harrassment or sexual assault-- no matter who you are and no matter what profession," DiCarpio said in a Facebook Post. "I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard."
Jessica Chastain
"I was warned from the beginning" about Weinstein, she said in a tweet. "The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again."
Julianne Moore
Colin Firth
“It must have been terrifying for these women to step up and call him out. And horrifying to be subjected to that kind of harassment. I applaud their courage."
Tamron Hall
Blake Lively
The actress said that she was unaware of the abuse but admitted that "it's devastating to hear."
"It's important that women are furious right now. It's important that there is an uprising. It's important that we don't stand for this and that we don't focus on one or two or three or four stories. It's important that we focus on humanity in general and say, 'This is unacceptable.'"
Julia Roberts
Ryan Gosling
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
