Coming clean. Bob Weinstein admitted to paying £250,000, which is worth roughly $600,000 today, on behalf of his brother, Harvey Weinstein, in the 1990s, according to The New Yorker.
Bob, who cofounded Miramax with Harvey in 1979, used money from his personal account — possibly to hide the payment from executives at Miramax, its parent company, Disney, and Harvey’s wife, Georgina Chapman— to pay two different female employees in England who accused his brother of sexual harassment and assault. Bob confirmed the payment to The New Yorker, but also claims he was misled by Harvey about why he was paying the women.
“Regarding that payment, I only know what Harvey told me, and basically what he said was he was fooling around with two women and they were asking for money,” Bob told the publication. “And he didn’t want his wife to find out, so he asked me if I could write a check, and so I did, but there was nothing to indicate any kind of sexual harassment.”
As previously reported, Harvey came under fire in October when nearly 30 years of sexual assault and abuse allegations were detailed by The New York Times. Dozens more allegations against Harvey have since surfaced, and actresses including Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Daryl Hannah have told their own stories about the disgraced film producer.
Multiple sources tell Us Weekly exclusively that “Bob and Harvey Weinstein had not spoken personally in five years before the scandal broke and their only interaction was at board meetings.”
Harvey was fired from The Weinstein Company on October 8 and expelled by the Television Academy on November 6.
A spokesperson for Harvey responded to claims that the NYPD had enough evidence to arrest him after actress Paz de la Huerta accused him of rape earlier this month.
“We do not believe an indictment of Mr. Weinstein is imminent,” a statement by a spokesperson for Weinstein read. “A formal presentation will be made on Mr. Weinstein’s behalf in the appropriate course of the investigation, and we strongly believe we will demonstrate that no criminal charges are warranted. Blair Berk and Ben Brafman will be defending Mr. Weinstein in any matters in New York.”
