The disgraced movie mogul has agreed to a $44 million deal to settle lawsuits with his alleged sexual misconduct victims and his former film studio's board members.
- May 24, 2019
AceShowbiz - Harvey Weinstein has reached a $44 million deal to settle lawsuits with multiple accusers, creditors and board members of his former film studio. The former movie producer has agreed to pay his alleged sexual misconduct victims, former Weinstein Co. employees and creditors $30 million and another $14 million to cover their legal fees, with the funds coming from insurance policies.
According to The Wall Street Journal which first reported the news, the deal is still being finalized. "For the first time, as of yesterday...we now have an economic agreement in principle that is supported by the plaintiffs, the [New York attorney general's] office, the defendants and all of the insurers," said Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, to Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, May 23.
If finalized, the deal will resolve a civil rights lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general's office last year that accuses Weinstein Co.'s executives and board of failing to protect employees from a hostile work environment and Weinstein's sexual misconduct.
A source notes that some funds would go to the defendants' legal fees. "Harvey Weinstein hasn't paid a dime towards damages incurred by victims," the source tells The Post. "A significant amount of this proposed settlement would be going right back into Harvey and Bob's pockets, instead of remunerating victims."
The proposed sum is less than half of what was discussed last year between an investor group that was interested in buying assets of the Weinstein Company and then-New York's attorney general's Eric T. Schneiderman. The deal which fell apart at the last minute would have awarded the victims $90 million.
Weinstein is still facing criminal charges for allegedly raping a woman in his Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on former production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006. He is scheduled to stand trial in Manhattan Supreme Court in September and faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars if found guilty of predatory sexual assault.
