Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein co-founded the company in 2005. Picture / AP
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein co-founded the company in 2005. Picture / AP
The Weinstein Co's board of directors says the company is expected to file for bankruptcy protection after last-ditch talks to sell its assets collapsed.
Now-disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein co-founded the company in 2005.
He was fired last October after being accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women. Weinstein Co has been searching for a financial savior ever since.
Weinstein has denied all allegations.
The Los Angeles Times reports the board said Sunday night it has no choice but to pursue bankruptcy.
The decision came after the board was unable to revive a deal to sell the struggling studio for about US$500 million ($682m) to an investor group.
As part of the pact, the bidders had promised to raise at least US$40m for a fund to compensate Weinstein's accusers.
Harvey Weinstein last week apologised to Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence after his lawyers cited them in asking a court to dismiss a sexual misconduct lawsuit.
A spokeswoman for the disgraced movie mogul said that Weinstein had also directed his legal representatives not to use specific names of actors and former associates in the future.
Lawyers for Weinstein argued in a filing, in which they quoted previous remarks made by Streep and Lawrence, that a proposed class-action lawsuit filed by six women should be rejected.
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein co-founded the company in 2005. Picture / AP
Weinstein's attorneys cited Streep as having previously said that Weinstein wasn't inappropriate with her and cited Lawrence as having told Oprah Winfrey that Weinstein "had always been nice" to her.
The actresses immediately snapped back, with Streep calling the citation of her remarks "pathetic and exploitive".
Lawrence said Weinstein's attorneys took her previous remarks out of context and that she stands "behind all the women who have survived his terrible abuse".
The lawsuit against Weinstein claims Weinstein assaulted young women trying to break into Hollywood when they were alone with him and that his former film companies operated like an organised crime group to conceal widespread sexual harassment and assaults. The suit could potentially involve hundreds of other women.
Weinstein's statement last week said he "acknowledges the valuable input both Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence have contributed to this conversation and apologises".
He went on to say that he "has advised his counsel to not include specific names of former associates; and to avoid whenever possible, even if they are in the public record".
At least 75 women have told the news media that Weinstein harassed, behaved inappropriately toward them or assaulted them. Authorities in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, New York and London are investigating.
