(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 24, 2020 Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. – (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)
Disgraced Harvey Weinstein is set to be stripped of his honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) award by the British government this week following his conviction for rape.
The American film producer, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a US court earlier this year, is expected to lose the CBE when the Honours Forfeiture Committee meets on Friday to consider recipients who have brought the system into disrepute, Daily Mail Uk reports.
Weinstein, 68, was appointed an honorary CBE in 2004 for recognition of his contributions to the British film industry. The award was “honorary” because Weinstein is not a citizen of a Commonwealth country. A CBE is the rank of a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is one step below a knighthood.
The move to have his CBE stripped follows a campaign by playwright Polly Creed for Britain to follow the example of France, where President Emmanuel Macron set in train the process for removing Weinstein’s Legion d’Honneur within days of the allegations surfacing in 2017.
In October 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker reported that more than a dozen women accused Weinstein of sexually harassing, assaulting, or raping them. Many other women in the film industry subsequently reported similar experiences with Weinstein. Following the accusations, Weinstein was fired from his production company, suspended from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also resigned from the Directors Guild of America. The Los Angeles Police Department opened a criminal investigation for alleged rape, and New York and London police began investigating other sexual assault allegations.
A string of actresses, including Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Léa Seydoux made harassment claims against Weinstein. More than 80 women came forward – with many saying they were blacklisted from lucrative projects if they rejected his advances.
