Weinstein resigns from board as accounts of assault snowball

LOS ANGELES - Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul accused of decades of sexual abuse and harassment, resigned from the board of his production company as Reese Witherspoon became the latest star to open up about her sexual assault experience.

Weinstein was kicked out as co-chairman of The Weinstein Company on Oct 8, but still held a seat on the board until his resignation on Tuesday.

The Weinstein Co announced on Monday that Colony Capital had agreed to provide an "immediate cash infusion" to the scandal-plagued studio, and that the two parties were in talks on a potential sale.

Around 40 actresses, including stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino have come forward saying they were sexually harassed by the producer.

On Tuesday, Game Of Thrones star Lena Headey wrote about alleged encounters with the mogul at the Venice Film Festival and in Los Angeles.

The English actress tweeted that Weinstein was "furious" after she told him she was only interested in discussing work.

The avalanche of accusations against the twice-married, 65-year-old father of five include rape, assault and sexual harassment. Weinstein insists any sexual encounters were consensual.

Until his downfall, Weinstein was one of the most powerful Hollywood moguls. His films have received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes - but last week he was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Revelations about Weinstein, first reported by The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine, have seen women around the world share experiences of sexual harassment.

On Monday, Oscar-winning actress Witherspoon, 41, said she was just 16 when it happened to her for the first, but not the only, time by an unnamed director.

"I have my own experiences that have come back to me very vividly, and I found it really hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate," she said at Elle magazine's Women in Hollywood event on Monday.

"True disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16 years old and anger that I felt at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment."

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(China Daily 10/19/2017 page11)