Harvey Weinstein has reportedly reached a $25 million settlement with his sexual misconduct accusers.
The disgraced producer appeared in court in New York City on Wednesday (11.12.19) for a hearing on his criminal sexual assault case – which was filed after he was accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct – and according to the New York Times newspaper, a deal has been made between Weinstein, his former film company, and his accusers.
According to the report by the news outlet, the $25 million settlement is a "tentative" agreement, which has been made with "dozens of his alleged sexual misconduct victims".
In the terms of this deal, Weinstein – who has denied all allegations against him – would not have to admit he did anything wrong or pay the money himself, as it would instead be paid by insurance companies that represent The Weinstein Company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
The settlement still needs to be accepted by the courts, but has reportedly gotten "preliminary approval".
However, attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and Kevin Mintzer – who represent two of Weinstein’s accusers – have slammed the deal, calling it "shameful".
They said in a statement: "We reject the notion that this was the best settlement that could have been achieved on behalf of the victims. It is shameful that $12 million of the settlement is going to the lawyers for the directors who we alleged enabled Harvey Weinstein and it is even more outrageous that the proposed settlement will seek to bind non participating members by providing a release to the insurance companies and the directors of the Weinstein Company itself.
"While we don’t begrudge victims who want to settle, we plan to vigorously object to any provision that tries to bind victims who want to proceed with holding Harvey Weinstein accountable for his actions which is exactly what we intend to do."
Meanwhile, Weinstein is also set to appear in court on January 6 on a separate sexual assault and rape trial.
He is facing five charges, including two counts of predatory sexual assault, a criminal sexual act, rape in the first degree and rape in the third degree, which have been brought against him by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Harvey Weinstein reaches $25 million settlement with accusers
