SICKENING!
Accusers’ fury as Weinstein settles sex claims for £19m with NO admission of guilt
‘No one will be held accountable’
HARVEY Weinstein’s accusers yesterday branded as ‘sickening’ a £19million settlement in which he would admit no wrongdoing and pay not a penny himself.
Women who claim Weinstein sexually assaulted them said they felt ‘defeated’ that the disgraced movie mogul might not admit guilt or face any personal financial penalty. Instead the reported settlement will be paid for by the insurers of the 67-year-old’s now-defunct production company.
Model and actress Zoe Brock, 45, who says she had to lock herself in a bathroom when a nude Weinstein demanded a massage in 1997, said: ‘The system has failed me. I’m at a loss, I’m at an absolute loss.’ However, she conceded she would have to accept the deal.
Anti- sexual harassment campaign group Time’s Up tweeted: ‘If this is the best the survivors could get, the system is broken.’ British- born model Emily Ratajkowski, 28, scrawled ‘f*** Harvey’ on her arm as she appeared on the red carpet at a Hollywood premiere after news of the settlement emerged.
All the money for the complainants who sued in the US civil court will come from firms representing The Weinstein Co, Weinstein’s former film company, which is in bankruptcy proceedings. The £19million is part of a wider £35million arrangement to finalise the obligations of The Weinstein Co toward his accusers. More than £9million – around a quarter of the total pot – will cover legal costs for Weinstein and his brother Bob, a detail which enraged the victims.
Weinstein Co board members will also be protected from all future liability and the victims will drop their claims against them and executives under the terms of the deal.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Miss Brock said that the settlement was a ‘joke’. She added: ‘I am devastated, I am appalled, I am sickened by it. I feel defeated.’
Miss Brock, who has been one of the most vocal accusers against Weinstein, said that she felt she had no choice but to accept the deal.
She said: ‘This man did terrible things and was helped by multiple other people and because of this settlement none of them will be held accountable at all. It’s a blanket settlement that will protect every employee of The Weinstein Company and Miramax.’
Asked how she felt about Weinstein’s criminal trial for rape and sexual assault, Miss Brock said: ‘I live best in a worst-case scenario because the worst-case scenario just keeps happening – so I have to imagine that he will get off and try to make a comeback because that’s where I feel safest.’
Many women feel they have no alternative because their claims are outside the statute of limitations, which puts a time scale on bringing legal action.
Miss Brock said the settlement made her feel like ‘I can’t do anything. I don’t matter. The system has failed me’.
The settlement will cover more than 30 actresses and former employees of Weinstein who have accused him of sexual misconduct in the US civil court.
Some 18 of them will split £4.7million, with nobody getting more than £378,000. A separate pot of £14million will be set aside for those who were part of a class action case, a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general and any future claimants.
Weinstein’s most high profile accusers, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, have not joined the civil proceedings so will get no money. However, at least four – including actress Ashley Judd – have not taken part in the settlement and are moving forward with their own civil complaints.
Time’s Up chief Rebecca Goldman hoped the development would bring the victims ‘some small measure of justice’, but added: ‘This settlement is a symptom of a problematic, broken system that privileges powerful abusers at the expense of survivors.’
Weinstein’s trial at Manhattan’s Criminal Court is due to start on January 6 next year.
Weinstein, who appeared in court using a walking frame on Wednesday for disabling his electronic tag 56 times, denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Jan Moir – Pages 38-39