In a statement responding to the New York Times report on Thursday exposing decades of sexual harassment allegations against him, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein said he was prepared to take a leave of absence. On Friday, the board of the Weinstein Company — the very entity Harvey co-founded with his brother Bob in 2005 — issued a statement supporting the decision. In fact, the four members of the Weinstein Company board who signed off on the press release indicated they thought the mega-producer should take an “indefinite leave of absence from the company, commencing today.”
“We strongly endorse Harvey Weinstein’s already-announced decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the company, commencing today,” read the statement signed by Tarak Ben Ammar, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Weinstein’s brother. “As Harvey has said, it is important for him to get professional help for the problems he has acknowledged. Next steps will depend on Harvey’s therapeutic progress, the outcome of the Board’s independent investigation, and Harvey’s own personal decisions.”
According to the Times, the Weinstein board spent around least three hours Thursday night “locked on the phone in heated discussion about the best way to respond” to the initial report. As a result of the tense discussion, the majority resolved to publicly support Weinstein’s claim regarding taking a leave of absence. On Friday, President David Glasser said in an email to employees that the company was “taking the allegations seriously.” He also revealed they were in the process of hiring an “independent, third-party firm to investigate the matter privately, so they can determine “best decision for how to address the situation.”
(Via New York Times)
