The academy behind the Oscars is to hold emergency meetings about Harvey Weinstein’s future role with them, following the sexual abuse accusations that have been levelled against him.
On Saturday (14 October), the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will gather to discuss what their next steps will be over the accusations, including whether to strip him of his membership, branding the movie mogul’s alleged misconduct “repugnant”.
They said in a statement: “The Academy finds the conduct described in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to be repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents.
“The Board of Governors will be holding a special meeting on Saturday October 14, to discuss the allegations against Weinstein and any actions warranted by the Academy.”
Over the years, the film academy has dished out a total of 81 Oscars thanks to films produced by Weinstein’s distribution companies, Miramax and the Weinstein Company.
The British equivalent of the film academy, Bafta, has already issued a statement announcing that they have suspended Weinstein’s membership “in light of recent very serious allegations”.
They said: “Whilst Bafta has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein’s support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with Bafta’s values.
“This has led to Mr Weinstein’s suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in Bafta’s constitution.”
Since the New York Times piece detailing the accusations was published last week, a number of A-list stars have come out to condemn the alleged misconduct, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and George Clooney.
Others have come forward detailing varying levels of sexually inappropriate behaviour, such as Cara Delevingne, who shared the story of her own uncomfortable meeting with Weinstein on her Instagram page.
Weinstein has faced a string of sexual assault and sexual harassment accusations, but has “unequivocally denied” any allegations of non-consensual relationships.