Harvey Weinstein Ousted From Motion Picture Academy
Expulsion or suspension as herein provided for shall require the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of all the governors.”
No person has been more closely associated with the Academy Awards in recent decades than Mr. Weinstein, who won a best picture Oscar in 1999 for “Shakespeare in Love” and who orchestrated campaigns
that resulted in more than 80 statuettes for films released by the studios he ran, including best picture Oscars for “Shakespeare in Love,” “The English Patient,” “Chicago,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist.”
The adulation afforded him power — so much power that many women feared reporting his alleged abuses —
and gave him the credibility he was able to use as a shield whenever rumors of his behavior started to swirl.
What’s at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.”
The academy said it would “work to establish ethical standards of conduct that all academy members will be expected to exemplify.”
Mr. Weinstein, who was fired by the movie and television studio he co-founded, the Weinstein Company,
has denied rape allegations while acknowledging that his behavior “caused a lot of pain.”
In the days leading up to it, as the industry was grappling with new public accusations against Mr. Weinstein published in The New Yorker, The Times
and on social media, some board members spoke among themselves to see if they could reach an informal consensus on how a vote on the mogul’s status would go.
On Friday, one person at the Weinstein Company, which has roughly 150 employees in New York
and Los Angeles, described an operation in chaos, with phones going unanswered and some staff members in revolt