Employers in finance, fashion get tough post-Weinstein

NEW YORK: The repercussions of Harvey Weinstein’s downfall spread further beyond Hollywood to the worlds of fashion and as employers showed the door to powerful men accused of sexual harassment.

Accusations that the mogul engaged in years of predatory behaviour shredded his career and marriage, and lifted the lid on endemic sexual harassment – particularly by older men preying on younger women – in Hollywood.

Nearly three weeks after the accusations surfaced, a leading fashion photographer has now been blacklisted by some of the biggest magazines in the world and it has emerged that two male senior executives at a blue-chip finance company were recently dismissed for allegedly harassing associates.

Conde Nast confirmed Tuesday that it was axing Terry Richardson, a 65-year-old New York photographer known for sexually explicit images, acting now – despite years of claims that he exploited models – in the wake of Weinstein.

In the male-dominated world of US finance, an industry source confirmed that Fidelity Investments sacked portfolio manager Robert Chow, 56, after 30 years at the firm, and Gavin Baker, 41, who ran a US$16 billion tech fund.

CEO Abigail Johnson, widely considered the most powerful woman in US finance, was said to be instrumental in demanding their dismissal in recent weeks.

“We simply will not, and do not, tolerate this type of behaviour,” Fidelity spokesman Vincent Loporchio told AFP by email.

A spokesman for Baker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Johnson, valued at US$17.5 billion by Forbes, sits atop a fund that manages US$6.4 trillion in assets and is a rarity in the US finance sector where non-profit organization Catalyst says women account for only two per cent of CEOs.

The refusal by Conde Nast to publish Richardson’s work is the latest indication of shrinking tolerance for powerful men accused of sexual impropriety, with actresses, models and ordinary women increasingly emboldened to speak out.

Staff at London-based Conde Nast International, whose titles include Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour, were informed by email that work already commissioned from Richardson should be ‘killed or substituted.’

Conde Nast US said it had ‘nothing planned’ with Richardson.

“Sexual harassment of any kind is unacceptable and should not be tolerated,” it told AFP in an email.

Richardson – like Weinstein – has insisted that all relationships were consensual. On Tuesday, a representative said he was ‘disappointed.’