Harvey Weinstein Fired By The Weinstein Co. (It’s Called “Trying to Save the Company”)

Harvey Weinstein has been fired from his position at a film company he co-founded. Just three days after a New York Times investigation detailed numerous incidents of alleged sexual harassment by the media mogul, the remaining board of directors at The Weinstein Company said the decision was made

“in light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days.“

Harvey’s brother Bob, was one of the board members who made the decision. A statement from the company tonight said,

“The directors of The Weinstein Company — Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar — have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately.“

According to the Times, three board directors resigned on Friday as the scandal became international news,

The remaining four board members originally said they supported Weinstein’s decision to take a “leave of absence”
and they left the door open for his return to the film company. They said on Friday.

“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.“

But some clients of the Weinstein Co. said they would stop working with them if Harvey was still associated with it.

Actress Ashley Judd was among those who spoke to the Times for the story and made an accusation of inappropriate conduct. Harvey issued a statement, in which he denied some of the allegations, but also admitted that he had behaved improperly at times during his career. He apologized for causing pain. Weinstein said,

“I cannot be more remorseful about the people I hurt and I plan to do right by all of them.“

In case you don’t know or care, the companies that he ran with brother Bob — first Miramax, then TWC — had at least one best picture nominee and at least one major win almost every year since 1990. Some years, his little independent operation garnered more Oscar noms than any of the major studios, topping out at 40 (including three of the five for best picture) in 2003, more than any company had garnered since 1940. And five of his films won best picture: The English Patient in 1997, Shakespeare in Love in 1999, Chicago in 2003, The King’s Speech in 2011 and The Artist in 2012.

But those days of the big little company that could appear to be over. And those big box office takes? Those days may be in the rear view too. The Weinstein Company’s top five highest-grossing films, all in the last decade, are:

1. Django Unchained, 2012, $162,805,434
2. Lion, 2016, $140,302,754
3. The King’s Speech, 2010, $138,797,449
4. Silver Linings Playbook, 2012, $132,092,958
5. Inglourious Basterds, 2009, $120,540,719