Harvey Weinstein, the film magnate in the spotlight after reports of sexual harassment over decades came out, will no longer be in charge of his film production company, the Weinstein Company.
"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 Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately," the Weinstein Company said in a statement released Sunday night.
The company's decision came two days after a third of the company's board — all men — resigned, the New York Times noted.
After the allegations came to light, Weinstein apologized, blaming the "culture" of the 1960s and 1970s, when he came of age. He also at one point threatened to sue the New York Times for their reporting.
On Friday, Salon's Amanda Marcotte pointed out that Weinstein's excuses fall short.
The stories relayed by women to the Times reporters suggest that's the case here. Many of the women describe Weinstein making excuses to get them alone in a hotel room. Making sure there are no witnesses to the behavior doesn't suggest a well-meaning guy who doesn't know better, but someone who knows exactly what he's doing and how he plans to get away with it.
What Weinstein is described doing, once he was alone with a woman, also cuts against the notion that any offense was accidental. . .
Sexual harassment isn't an accident, and it's not the result of social awkwardness or a failure to understand the "new" rules for how to treat women. It's not a mental illness. Sexual harassment is . . . just plain bullying.
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