Less than a month before his Manhattan criminal trial scheduled for Jan. 6, deposed producer Harvey Weinstein signed a $ 47 million memorandum of understanding to end all of his civil litigation. $ 25 million would go to dozens of women, actresses, who accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, who revealed the agreement.
It was negotiated between Mr. Weinstein, his former partners, the insurers, the New York Attorney General and the plaintiffs. It was signed by the main stakeholders but still needs to be validated by New York judges. Such an agreement had already been announced in the spring. According to the US press, the sum would be paid by insurers, including those Weinstein studios who declared bankruptcy in early 2018. Mr. Weinstein and his associates recognize no harm in the memorandum of understanding.
In detail, $ 6 million would go to the 18 women who personally sued while a general compensation fund would have $ 18.6 million. 7 million will be allocated to the creditors of studios. Lastly, $ 12 million would go to the lawyers of Mr. Weinstein's former associates or even to Mr. Weinstein and his brother Bob. "It's a shame that $ 12 million of the deal goes for the directors' lawyers who made it possible (the actions of) Harvey Weinstein », protested Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer of one of the complainants, to the Wall Street Journal. Some famous actresses, like Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek or Gwyneth Paltrow, did not join the procedure, according to the NYT, nor the actress Ashley Judd who intends to go to trial.
This agreement was for many victims the only way, because of the prescription or because the actions of Mr. Weinstein were not likely to be the subject of a criminal conviction. " I do not like (This agreement) but I do not know how to pursue it ", said at New York Timesactress Katherine Kendall, 50, assaulted in 1993 and who also did not want to block the other plaintiffs for compensation.
Limited criminal trial
In this context of massive civil compensation, which reflects the scale of the case, the criminal trial that will open seems very limited. The criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein concern only two women: the first, anonymous, accuses her of having raped her in a hotel in Manhattan; the second is a production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, who says she was forced to give her a blowjob in 2006. Mme Haleyi described in detail in the American press the psychological pressure inflicted for weeks by Mr. Weinstein and his rape under physical restraint at his home in New York.
