Weinstein’s brother denies harassment
● US broadcaster Spike says it is taking allegations against him ‘very seriously’
The brother of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has denied sexually harassing a producer as a television network investigates the claims.
US broadcaster Spike said that it is taking “very seriously” allegations about Bob Weinstein made by Amanda Segel, a former executive producer of sci-fi series The Mist.
She said he made repeated romantic overtures and requests to join him for private dinners over the course of three months until threats from her lawyer that she would leave the show if he did not stop, US magazine Variety reported.
The allegation came as Harvey Weinstein resigned from the board of directors of The Weinstein Company after being accused by more than 30 actresses of sexual harassment and assault.
Ms Segel told Variety: “After ‘no’, anybody who has asked you out should just move on. Bob kept referring to me that he wanted to have a friendship. He didn’t want a friendship. He wanted more than that. My hope is that ‘no’ is enough from now on.”
Lawyer Bert Fields said the report is “riddled with false and misleading assertions” by Ms Segel.
“And we have the emails to prove it,” he added. “But even if you believe what she says it contains not a hint of any inappropriate touching or even any request for such touching.
“There is no way in the world that Bob Weinstein is guilty of sexual harassment and even if you believed what this person assertsthereisnowayitwould amount to that.”
The alleged harassment by Bob Weinstein, 62, was reported to have begun in summer last year during the making of the show produced by The Weinstein Company.
A Spike spokesman said: “We take all allegations of this nature very seriously, and are investigating.”
Harvey Weinstein, 65, stepped down from the board of The Weinstein Company after the studio he co-founded more than a decade ago sacked him from his role as a chairman.
Through his spokesman, he has “unequivocally denied” allegations of non-consensual sex after three actresses accused him of rape in an article in the New Yorker.
This followed a bombshell investigation by the New York Times that claimed he paid off sexual harassment accusers over a period of decades.
Police in the UK are also investigating five allegations against him dating from the late 1980s to 2015, including reports of rape.
After the initial allegations were reported, Bob Weinstein said he was “mortified and disgusted by my brother’s actions”.
Actress Rose Mcgowan, who has made claims against Harvey Weinstein, has previously warned people not to let his younger brother “off the hook”.
Meanwhile, Star Wars director JJ Abrams said Harvey Weinstein is unlikely to be a “lone operator” in Hollywood. The filmmaker said the allegations against the disgraced movie mogul were “horrific”.
He said: “People knew that he was a bully but I didn’t have a clue as to the extent.”