A former official in the Barack Obama administration said Thursday she had reached a deal to buy assets from Harvey Weinstein’s former company to launch a new firm after the Hollywood mogul’s downfall for alleged sexual misconduct.
Maria Contreras-Sweet said the deal had been reached with the New York state attorney general’s office, which last month sued The Weinstein Company fearing that its imminent sale could leave victims of his alleged sexual misconduct without adequate redress.
‘Our team is pleased to announce that we have taken an important step and have reached an agreement to purchase assets from The Weinstein Company in order to launch a new company,’ Contreras-Sweet, who served as Administrator of the Small Business Administration under Obama, said in a statement.
Maria Contreras-Sweet (right), a former official in the Obama administration, said Thursday that she had reached a deal to buy assets from Harvey Weinstein’s embattled company
She said her intention was to ‘build a movie studio led by a board of directors made up of a majority of independent women, save about 150 jobs, protect the small businesses who are owed money and create a victims’ compensation fund.’
The Weinstein Company had been close to sealing a deal with an investor group led by Contreras-Sweet last month until New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman launched legal action and imposed various principles on any sale going forward.
Weinstein won’t be going to Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, but the film producer’s presence is still being felt in Hollywood.
Los Angeles-based street artist Plastic Jesus on Thursday unveiled a statue called ‘Casting Couch,’ depicting a life-size Weinstein, clothed in a bathrobe, sitting on a golden colored couch and holding an Oscar.
It was installed near the Hollywood venue where the Academy Awards ceremony will be held.
More than 70 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including rape. Weinstein has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.
His representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the installation.
The accusations against Weinstein triggered a flood of allegations of sexual impropriety by other celebrities that have rocked Hollywood and dominated this year’s movie awards season.
Los Angeles-based street artist Plastic Jesus on Thursday unveiled a statue called ‘Casting Couch,’ depicting a life-size Weinstein, clothed in a bathrobe, sitting on a golden colored couch and holding an Oscar. A dog named Sassi sits next to the statue on Thursday
The street artist hijacked Hollywood billboards to attack the entertainment industry for failing to tackle widespread sexual misconduct
The red and black covers featured slogans like ‘Name names on stage or shut the hell up!’
‘Whilst many thought the “casting couch” was a thing of the past it was clearly still a part of the Hollywood culture,’ Plastic Jesus said in a statement on his Facebook page.
‘Hopefully now in the light of recent allegations against many leading figures in Hollywood the industry will clean up it’s (sic) act,’ he said.
Weinstein was one of the movie industry’s most influential men, powering independent movies such as ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ to Oscar best picture wins.
He was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year and fired from his company, the Weinstein Company.
The ‘Casting Couch’ statue followed the appearance in Los Angeles on Wednesday of billboards designed by street artist Sabo that accused the entertainment industry of staying silent about sexual misconduct.
Plastic Jesus said the Weinstein statue was a collaboration with the artist Joshua ‘Ginger’ Monroe and took two months to produce. It was paid for by donations through their websites.
Plastic Jesus and Ginger were also responsible for producing naked statues of Donald Trump that appeared in various U.S. cities in 2016, before he was elected U.S. president.