Harvey Weinstein

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Harvey Weinstein (2014)

Harvey Weinstein , CBE ([ ˈhɑɹːvɪ ˈwaɪ̯nstiːn ]; born March 19, 1952 in Flushing , Queens , New York City ) is an American film producer . Weinstein was accused of sexually molesting large numbers of women in October 2017 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape in March 2020. The allegations escalated to the Weinstein scandal , which led to his firing from the Weinstein Company and expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which awards the Oscars.

life and career

Harvey Weinstein was born the eldest son of a well-off family in Queens, New York. His father Max was a diamond cutter; his maternal grandparents were Polish emigrants. Weinstein graduated from the State University of New York ; During his studies he already owned a small theater with his two years younger brother Bob , the Century Theater, in which they organized small film festivals , among other things . The brothers became the most successful film producers in the United States; the focus of her work has always been in New York, not Los Angeles .

In 1979, Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded the production company Miramax , which they sold to Disney in 1993 . The most successful films by Miramax and the Weinstein brothers include The English Patient (1996), Shakespeare in Love (1998, Oscar and British Academy Film Award for best film , Satellite Award for best comedy or best musical), Scary Movie (2000), Chicago (2002) and Gangs of New York (2002). Despite the great success of Miramax, there were often artistic differences between the Weinstein brothers and Disney. The conflict over the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) by Michael Moore , which Disney did not want to publish, led the Weinsteins to buy the rights to the project from their private assets. In September 2005, Harvey and Bob Weinstein left their company Miramax and founded the Weinstein Company in New York with the transfer fee of 140 million US dollars .

Weinstein's television talent show Project Runway was nominated five times for an Emmy and Project Greenlight three times. In total, his productions were nominated 19 times for the Oscar for best film, five of the films received the award. He himself received an Oscar in 1999 for the production of Shakespeare in Love . With a few exceptions (such as Gangs of New York ), Harvey Weinstein is referred to as an Executive Producer or Co-Executive Producer in the film credits .

Sexual assault allegations

In October 2017, Weinstein was accused of raping or sexually molesting large numbers of women; Allegations were made by actresses Asia Argento , Ashley Judd , Gwyneth Paltrow , Rosanna Arquette , Salma Hayek , Angelina Jolie , Léa Seydoux , Cara Delevingne and Uma Thurman ; which in turn resulted in MeToo . The incidents are said to date back to the 1980s and have long been an open secret in the US media industry.

Weinstein apologized and announced a break to get his "demons" under control. On October 8, 2017, Weinstein was fired from the production company The Weinstein Company . A week later he was expelled from AMPAS , the Oscar Academy.

The New Yorker revealed on November 6, 2017 that Weinstein had apparently put former Mossad agents on his alleged victims to determine the risk of possible revelations. An Israeli security company then apologized for their involvement.

On May 25, 2018, Weinstein was arrested by New York City police for rape and sexual assault after he turned himself in. He was released on bail by the competent court with an electronic ankle bracelet . As part of the requirements, he had handed in his passport and was only allowed to leave New York and Connecticut with the permission of the court. Weinstein's defense lawyer was Benjamin Brafman until the end of 2018 . He was tried on January 6, 2020 in New York City on charges of forcing a former production assistant to have oral sex in 2006 and raping another woman in 2013.

On February 24, 2020, the jury found him partially guilty of sex crimes. An appeal against the judgment is possible. The sentence was set on March 11, 2020 with 23 years in prison. Another criminal case against Weinstein is pending in Los Angeles.

Private life

Harvey Weinstein was married to Eve Chilton Weinstein from 1986 to 2004. The marriage resulted in three daughters (* 1995, 1998, 2002). In 2000 he suffered a heart attack . From 2007 he was married to the fashion designer Georgina Chapman (* 1976). They have a daughter (* 2010) and a son (* 2013). After the rape allegations became known, Chapman announced the separation from her husband and filed for divorce.

Weinstein has large sums of money for election campaigns of the Democratic Party collected, among other things, for the two election campaigns of Bill Clinton ( 1992 and 1996 ), the election in 2012 of Barack Obama and the election campaign in 2016 by Hillary Clinton . He himself has donated nearly $ 1.5 million to Democratic candidates since 1990. He was Obama's guest at the White House several times. Obama's daughter Malia did an internship at the Weinstein Company. Weinstein was considered a longtime friend of Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and numerous other politicians distanced themselves after Weinstein's allegations became known.

Filmography (selection)

producer

Executive Producer

literature

  • Peter Biskind: Sex, Lies & Pulp Fiction. Behind the scenes of the new American film. Rogner & Bernhard, 2005, ISBN 3-8077-1004-3 .

Web links

Commons : Harvey Weinstein  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. Harvey Weinstein Is Found Guilty on Two Counts: Live Updates. In: nytimes.com. February 24, 2020, accessed on February 24, 2020 .
  2. DER SPIEGEL: Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison - DER SPIEGEL - Panorama. Retrieved March 11, 2020 .
  3. Till Brockmann: The producer as a creative. In: NZZ Online . October 1, 2013, accessed November 24, 2017 .
  4. Maureen Dowd: Opinion. This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry. In: New York Times . February 3, 2018, accessed February 3, 2018 .
  5. Jodi Kantor, Rachel Abrams: Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Others Say Weinstein Harassed Them. In: New York Times. October 10, 2017.
  6. ^ Marc Pitzke: Culture of Complicity. In: Spiegel Online . October 11, 2017.
  7. Ronan Farrow: From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein's Accusers Tell Their Stories. In: The New Yorker . October 10, 2017, accessed October 11, 2017 .
  8. Lea Seydoux: "I had to defend myself": the night Harvey Weinstein jumped on me. In: The Guardian . October 11, 2017.
  9. ^ New accusation against Weinstein. "I felt very powerless". In: FAZ.net . October 12, 2017.
  10. Marc Pitzke: Known and secretive. In: Spiegel Online. October 12, 2017.
  11. Sexual harassment allegations. US producer Weinstein fired. In: tagesschau.de . October 9, 2017.
  12. Harvey Weinstein expelled from Oscar Academy. In: Courier Online . 15th October 2017.
  13. Ronan Farrow: Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies. In: The New Yorker. November 6, 2017.
  14. Weinstein is said to have kept a spy list with almost a hundred names. In: Spiegel Online. 19th November 2017.
  15. Laura Italiano: Harvey Weinstein now has to wear this clunky device 24/7. In: Page Six. May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018 .
  16. ^ After sexual assault: Film producer Weinstein sued for rape. In: Süddeutsche.de . May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018 .
  17. Amanda Holpuch, Jamiles Lartey: Harvey Weinstein appears in court charged with rape and other sexual offenses. May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018 .
  18. Tracy Connor, Meredith Mandell: Harvey Weinstein's lawyer takes aim at rape accuser. In: NBC News . May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018 .
  19. "Whose side are you?" . Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 8, 2019.
  20. The jury finds Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and severe sexual assault - the latest developments in the proceedings against the former film mogul. on nzz.ch.
  21. FAZ.net: Harvey Weinstein found guilty of sex crimes
  22. Crane, Emily and Cohen, Shawn: apist Harvey Weinstein, 67, is sentenced to 23 years in prison for sex crimes in landmark #MeToo case as six of his accusers hug each other and sob from front row of Manhattan courtroom. In: https://www.dailymail.co.uk . March 11, 2020, accessed on March 11, 2020 .
  23. spiegel.de February 24, 2020: "New Era of Justice"
  24. Harvey Weinstein's wife. "I have decided to leave my husband." In: Spiegel Online. October 11, 2017.
  25. Weinstein's still wife. "Ashamed and broken." In: FAZ.net. May 11, 2018.
  26. Marc Pitzke : Hollywood's Dirty Secret. In: Spiegel Online. October 9, 2017.
  27. ^ Eli Watkins: Hillary Clinton, Obama's condemn longtime Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein. In: CNN.com . October 10, 2017.