Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Academy expels movie mogul Weinstein from ranks
LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein, a once-dominant force in the Academy Awards who rewrote the rules of Oscar campaigning, was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday in response to mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him.
The film academy’s 54member board of governors voted to remove Weinstein from the organization’s ranks in an unprecedented public rebuke of a prominent industry figure.
In removing Weinstein, the academy said in a statement: “We do so 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. What’s at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society. The Board continues to work to establish ethical standards of conduct that all Academy members will be expected to exemplify.”
Since reports of Weinstein’s alleged misconduct toward dozens of women surfaced in the New York Times on Oct. 5, the academy had been under increasing pressure to take action against him. On Tuesday, the National Organization for Women called for Weinstein’s removal, stating, “A sexual predator doesn’t deserve the privilege of an academy membership — and all the opportunities to wield outsize power that come with it.”
Twenty-one members of the film academy’s board are women, and in recent years the organization has taken steps to increase the number of women in its ranks.
In the past several days, a number of academy members expressed their feelings privately and publicly that Weinstein had no place in the film industry’s most prestigious organization.
But some feared it could set a precedent that would require the academy to police members’ behavior. Others who have come under scrutiny for their treatment of women — including Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski and Mel Gibson — remain members.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ decided earlier in the week to suspend Weinstein’s membership. The Weinstein Co. cofounded by Weinstein is currently exploring a change of name days after it fired Weinstein.