Harvey Weinstein Pursued For Embezzling Studio Funds To Cover Up Assaults
The Manhattan District Attorney is investigating disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for possibly embezzling funding for movie shoots to use as hush money to cover up sexual assaults, the New York Post reported.
For decades, Weinstein, with the help of his brother Bob Weinstein, paid money to women he had assaulted, harassed or bullied as part of non-disclosure agreements to keep the incidents from becoming public. Over a dozen such settlements have been reported in the media. Payments have been as high as $1 million.
A source told the Post that the investigation into where the money came from is “wide-ranging and aggressive,” and has already resulted in more than two-dozen subpoenas in the search for a paper trail. Several Weinstein associates have also given voluntary interviews in the DA’s office this week.
According to the Post’s source, the money could have come from The Weinstein Company, which fired Weinstein in October, or from Miramax.
Weinstein has denied “any allegations of non-consensual sex.” A defense lawyer for Weinstein said: “Any financial settlements by Mr. Weinstein were fully vetted and approved by legal counsel for Mr. Weinstein and The Weinstein Company.”
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO