Harvey Weinstein Reaches $44 Million Settlement With Sexual Assault Accusers (Report)

The disgraced movie mogul has also reached a tentative deal with creditors of his former studio and the New York attorney general.

Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative multimillion-dollar settlement with women who have accused the disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault.

The New York Times on Thursday reported that lawyers representing Weinstein had agreed to a proposed $44 million settlement with his accusers, as well as the creditors of his former studio The Weinstein Co. (TWC) and the New York attorney general.

Under the proposed settlement, which has yet to be finalized, $30 million would be earmarked for accusers, unsecured creditors and former TWC employees, according to the Times. The remaining $14 million would be used to pay legal fees.

The Times reports that insurance policies would cover the $44 million if the deal is approved by advisers in charge of the former TWC’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Attorneys involved in the negotiations told a federal bankruptcy court judge during a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday that they were close to a settlement through mediation.

"We now have an economic agreement in principal that is supported by the plaintiffs, the (New York attorney general's) office, the defendants and all of the insurers that, if approved, would provide significant compensation to victims, creditors and the estate and allow the parties to avoid years of costly, time-consuming and uncertain litigation on all sides," Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, told the judge, according to the Associated Press, which obtained audio of the hearing.

A rep for Weinstein declined to comment when reached by The Hollywood Reporter.

Negotiations between Weinstein's legal team and the lawyers representing the women accusers have reportedly been going on for over a year.

The settlement with the New York attorney general relates to that office's February 2018 lawsuit against Weinstein and his brother and business partner Bob Weinstein for the violation of state and city laws on sexual harassment, sexual abuse and coercion as well as gender discrimination. With the settlement, Weinstein's lawyers hope to cover all pending suits against the producer and his business associates relating to his now-bankrupt studio.

In October 2017, the Times reported that dozens of women had accused the Oscar-winning producer of sexual assault, which dated back decades. Those allegations led to a deluge of further claims of sexual assault against Weinstein in The New Yorker and other publications. The Weinstein allegations would go on to spur allegations against dozens of prominent men in Hollywood and around the world under the #MeToo hashtag on social media.

After the wave of allegations against Weinstein, TWC filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.

Despite reports of a proposed settlement deal with some of his accusers and creditors, Weinstein continues to have legal problems, with dozens of lawsuits filed by other accusers and upcoming criminal trials. In September, Weinstein will go on trial in New York for charges of raping an unidentified female acquaintance in his Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.

In a separate case, a U.S. District Judge allowed a sex trafficking case to go ahead against Weinstein relating to a 2017 suit.

May 24, 6:36 a.m. This story has been updated with a rep for Weinstein declining to comment and a quote from the bankruptcy hearing, where the settlement news was first revealed on Thursday.