A group of six women filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the American mogul and movie producer Harvey Weinstein, a board of former directors, and the companies Weinstein once co-founded: Miramax and The Weinstein Company.
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Harvey used his companies to facilitate getting closer to the women he sexually harassed and assaulted inside the entertainment industry. According to the paper, the Hollywood producer’s assistant once used the credit card of The Weinstein Co. to rent an entire apartment full of furniture, female lingerie, flowers, two bathrobes and extra clothes.
Weinstein offered the women many roles in movie productions and didn’t give them any assignments. Additionally, the Times reported that the mogul’s company once paid a private jet stop to pick up a European model.
“Dozens have come forward so far, and many more remain in the shadows, still trying to find their courage,” the women said in a statement. “They are watching us defend ourselves for not coming forward sooner. They are reading internet comments, assessing the risks of coming forward and hoping that a few of us can obtain justice without them having to add their names to the list and go down in history as having been Weinsteined.”
The plaintiffs in the suit were identified as Louisette Geiss, Katherine Kendall, Zoe Brock, Sarah Ann Masse, Melissa Sagemiller and Nannette Klatt.
The lawsuit filed by the “six women representing hundreds” who have been harassed or assaulted by the American mogul names former and actual members from Weinstein Co.’s board of directors – including the New York Knicks’ owner James Dolan, and Milwaukee Bucks’ co-owner Marc Lasry.
According to the suit, these two men no longer play any role at the Weinstein Company directors’ board. Dolan worked only from mid-2015 to June 2016, while Lasry from mid-2016 to October 2017.
In front of these accusations, Lasry’s spokesman denied any comments Wednesday. But Dolan, although he was already requested, has not said anything.
Harvey Weinstein left both companies after being accused of sexual assault in October 2017. Some women assured they were victims recently, but other said they faced the American producer when they were only teenagers.
Meanwhile, Actress Lena Dunham and former New Yorker editor Tina Brown also announced Wednesday that they alerted Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign not to accept any donation from the mogul because of the accusations, which were just recently reported.
As the New York Times’ interview reads, Kristina Schake, the campaign’s deputy communications director, ignored the warnings that Dunham made in March 2016 about the “rapist.”
Both Weinstein’s companies involved in the accusations
The joint statement that calls the American producer a “predator” also says that Harvey’s younger brother Bob, his lawyers, and a private investigator “knew it” all along before everything came out.
“The Weinstein Sexual Enterprise had many participants, grew over time as the obfuscation of Weinstein’s conduct became more difficult to conceal,” the suit says.
Bob and Harvey founded the Weinstein Co. in 2005, but Bob is today the head of the company.
Just like James Dolan, The Weinstein Company has not given any statement as far as Wednesday.
Miramax, on the other side, “joins the entire film community in condemning Harvey Weinstein and his unspeakable actions,” as a spokeswoman said. Also, she said that Miramax had been “completely independent” of both Bob and Harvey Weinstein since they founded The Weinstein Company.
Source: The New York Times