The British Film Institute has announced it will remove its prestigious fellowship from disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein had been given the award – for “outstanding contribution to cinema” –jointly with his brother Bob in 2002; the pair at the time were co-chairmen of their first company Miramax which had been purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 1993.
In a statement, the BFI said that its “highest honour” had been withdrawn and that “the serious and widespread allegations about Harvey Weinstein’s appalling conduct are in direct opposition to the BFI’s values.” The Fellowship has been awarded regularly since 1983, with such luminaries as David Lean, Vanessa Redgrave and Clint Eastwood among its recipients. Bob Weinstein retains his fellowship.
The BFI’s action follows Weinstein’s exclusion from a string of major industry bodies, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the yearly Oscar ceremony, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, which organises the Baftas. On Monday the Producers Guild voted to expel him.
More than 40 women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment following the publication of investigations by the New York Times and the New Yorker. Following the revelations, Weinstein was sacked by the board of his company.
Weinstein has “unequivocally denied” all allegations of non-consensual sex. “With respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual,” a spokesperson for the producer said.
