Harvey Weinstein Loses Advisors, Company Support Over Sexual Harassment Claims

Harvey Weinstein, the brash co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, is steadily losing support over mounting allegations that he sexually harassed women for decades.

In a bombshell New York Times exposé published Thursday, Ashley Judd and several Weinstein employees recounted the mogul propositioning them.

The New York Times also disclosed that actress Rose McGowan had settled a case against Weinstein in 1997 following an incident that allegedly occurred in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival. McGowan did not offer a comment to the Times, but has been vocal on Twitter, calling out women in Hollywood for not issuing statements about Weinstein.

On Friday, Lauren Sivan told Huffington Post Weinstein had masturbated in front of her a decade ago in a club in which he was an investor. She had been a local news anchor at the time.

Weinstein had been using prominent lawyer Lisa Bloom as an advisor since the Times story broke. Bloom defended Weinstein at first, saying she found him "refreshingly candid and receptive to my message" about women's rights.

Saturday, Bloom — who had been criticized by her lawyer mother, Gloria Allred, for siding with a man accused of sexual harassment — abruptly left Weinstein's camp, tweeting, "I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein. My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement."

Lanny Davis, another Weinstein advisor, left his employ shortly after Bloom.

Even more ominously, a third of the board of The Weinstein Company — all men — resigned, and Deadline reports Weinstein self-declared an indefinite leave from his company as the remaining members of the board announced an independent investigation into what's next for him. In a statement, the board declared, "We strongly endorse Harvey Weinstein's already-announced decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the Company, commencing [October 6]. 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. In the meantime, the Company is under the leadership of its Co-Chairman, Bob Weinstein, and its Chief Operating Officer, David Glasser, who plan to proceed with business in the ordinary course."

Weinstein said in a statement to The Times, "I appreciate the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though I'm trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go." He also released a more rambling statement, one that included some swipes at the NRA and President Trump.