LOS ANGELES: The Producers Guild of America banned disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for life on Monday, vowing that sexual harassment would no longer be tolerated within its ranks.
New accusations of sexual assault have continued to pour in since investigations in the New York Times and New Yorker three weeks ago exposed the tycoon as a relentless, bullying sexual predator.
More than 50 women including stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino have accused 65-year-old Weinstein of sexual abuse and harassment, although he denies forcing himself on anyone.
“In light of Mr. Weinstein’s widely reported behavior — with new reports continuing to surface even now — the Producers Guild’s national board has voted unanimously to enact a lifetime ban on Mr. Weinstein, permanently barring him from PGA membership,” the guild said in a statement.
“This unprecedented step is a reflection of the seriousness with which the guild regards the numerous reports of Mr. Weinstein’s decades of reprehensible conduct. Sexual harassment can no longer be tolerated in our industry or within the ranks of Producers Guild membership.”
The announcement came as accusations of serious sexual assault continued to pile up against Weinstein, whose films have received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes.
Hope Exiner d’Amore has accused Weinstein of raping her in a hotel room in the 1970s, according to a Times article published Monday, while Cynthia Burr said he attacked her in an encounter that ended with forced oral sex in a hallway.
A third complainant, Ashley Matthau, a dancer with a bit part in one of his movies, says he pushed her down on a bed in a 2004 attack, masturbating while straddling her.
On Saturday the New Yorker ran an interview in which actress Annabella Sciorra — an Emmy nominee for her role in the acclaimed television series “The Sopranos” — accused Weinstein of forcing his way into her apartment and violently raping her in the 1990s.
Last week, according to the Times, the actress Dominique Huett filed a lawsuit claiming that in 2010, Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her, while Mimi Haleyi, a former production assistant, told a news conference in New York he had attacked her in 2006.
Asked about the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Weinstein reiterated that he denies engaging in non-consensual sex, and said that he “has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path.”
Police in New York, Los Angeles and London have all confirmed criminal investigations into Weinstein’s activities.
The toppled tycoon was sacked as co-chairman of The Weinstein Company and also resigned from its board.
Hollywood producers kick out disgraced Weinstein
Hollywood producers kick out disgraced Weinstein
‘The Secret Agent’ — Brazilian political thriller lives up to the awards hype
DUBAI: Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho’s political thriller may be set during his homeland’s turbulent 1970s — under a military dictatorship that committed extensive human rights abuses — but this ambitious, layered, and beautifully realized movie is loaded with timely reminders of what happens when political violence and moral turpitude are normalized, and — in one memorable fantastical scene — when fake news turns into mass hysteria.
The film follows Marcelo (the compelling Wagner Moura), an academic working in engineering, who discovered that a government minister was shutting down his university department in order to funnel its research into a private company in which the minister owned shares. When Marcelo points out the corruption, he becomes a marked man and must go on the run, leaving his young son with the parents of his late wife. He is moved to a safe house in Recife, run by the sweet-but-steely Dona Sebastiana (an effervescent Tania Maria) on behalf of a resistance group. They find him a job in the government department responsible for issuing ID cards.
Here he meets the despicable Euclides (Roberio Diogenes) — a corrupt cop whose department uses a carnival as cover to carry out extrajudicial murders — and his goons. He also learns that the minister with whom he argued has hired two hitmen to kill him. Time is running out. But soon he should have his fake passport and be able to flee.
“The Secret Agent” is much more than just its plot, though. It is subtle — sometimes oblique, even. It is vivid and darkly humorous. It takes its time, allowing the viewer to wallow in its vibrant colors and equally vibrant soundtrack, but always building tension as it heads towards an inevitable and violent climax. Filho shows such confidence, not just in his own skills, but in the ability of a modern-day audience to still follow stories without having to have everything neatly parceled and dumbed-down.
While the director deserves all the plaudits that have already come his way — and there will surely be more at the Oscars — the cast deserve equal praise, particularly the bad guys. It would’ve been easy to ham it up as pantomime villains. Instead, their casual cruelty is rooted in reality, and all the more sinister for it. Like everything about “The Secret Agent,” they are pitch perfect.
