Producers Guild votes to expel Harvey Weinstein
By Dave McNary
The Producers Guild of America has started its expulsion process to kick disgraced studio mogul Harvey Weinstein out of the trade organization.
The PGA’s move was announced early Monday afternoon and was widely expected. The organization also disclosed that it’s creating an anti-sexual harassment task force in the wake of the far-reaching Weinstein scandal.
The vote underlines how rapidly Weinstein — accused of multiple sexual assaults — has descended from power player to pariah status in Hollywood in less than two weeks.
“This morning, the PGA’s National Board of Directors and Officers decided by unanimous vote to institute termination proceedings concerning Harvey Weinstein’s membership,” Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary, presidents of the Producers Guild of America, said in a statement on behalf of the PGA National Board of Directors and Officers.
The expulsion is not effective immediately. Weinstein will be given the opportunity to respond before the PGA makes its final determination on Nov. 6.
“Sexual harassment of any type is completely unacceptable,” the statement continues. “This is a systemic and pervasive problem requiring immediate industry-wide action. Today, the PGA’s National Board and Officers — composed of 20 women and 18 men — created the Anti-Sexual Harassment Task Force specifically charged with researching and proposing substantive and effective solutions to sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. ”
The PGA’s national board of directors took the vote on Monday at an emergency meeting that had originally been set for Saturday.
PGA leaders emailed members on Wednesday to outline the procedures that were expected to lead to Weinstein’s expulsion from the group in the wake of a series of shocking accusations about sexual harassment and assault, detailed in an Oct. 5 New York Times report that led other women to come forward. The Weinstein Company ousted Weinstein from his own production-distribution company four days later.
The PGA’s move comes two days after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of directors stripped Weinstein of membership and issued the following statement: “We [have voted to expel Weinstein] 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.”
The PGA has 8,100 members. Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob received the PGA’s milestone award in 2013. The trophy is one of the guild’s highest honors. Other recipients have included Clint Eastwood, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, Sherry Lansing, Ron Meyer, Alan Horn, Bob Iger, and Tom Rothman.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts expelled Weinstein on Oct. 11. SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East have all issued statements of condemnation along with dozens of actors and executives.
