This is not the Hollywood ending that Harvey Weinstein probably had in mind for his career. But it’s most definitely an ending to the career of one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood history.
The Board of Directors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Saturday to strip The Weinstein Company head of his membership. It’s a stunning fall for a producer and executive who dominated Oscar campaigns for three decades.
Weinstein, however, was cast as the biggest villain in the film industry after an explosive New York Times report that detailed numerous alleged sexual assaults and harassment of actresses and other women by Weinstein, and a New Yorker article that reported on three accusations of rape. The two reports sparked a deluge of other accusers to step forward — including Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne, and Kate Winslet.
The scandal led to his firing from the company that bares his name.
“We (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 statement reads.
The Weinstein scandal also has the rest of the notoriously male-dominated film and television industries ready for a close-up. Amazon suspended entertainment studio head Roy Price after a female TV producer accused him of unwanted sexual advances.
Critics took to social media to point out that other bold-faced names linked to sexual assault scandals — including Bill Cosby, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski — are still full members of the Academy.
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