(JTA) — Harvey Weinstein and his former studio’s board members have reached a tentative settlement deal for $44 million with women who accuse him of sexual misconduct, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The disgraced film producer, who is Jewish, has denied sexually harassing or abusing over 75 women.
He will stand trial in New York in June on criminal charges brought by two women, including rape.
In October 2017, The New York Times published a story detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein, who founded the Weinstein Co. with his brother after splitting from Miramax in 2005. It triggered the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among the first women to come forward.
Weinstein issued an apology acknowledging he had “caused a lot of pain,” but denied allegations that he harassed female employees over nearly three decades.
Adam Harris, a lawyer for studio co-founder Bob Weinstein, told a judge that “an economic agreement in principle” had been reached, The Associated Press reported Friday. Weinstein’s team later told The Wall Street Journal that the size of the settlement would be approximately $44 million.
Weinstein, 67, is one of Hollywood’s most famous producers and has worked on a number of award-winning films, including “Shakespeare in Love,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist.”
In 2017, Quartz wrote that Weinstein had become so powerful in Hollywood that he had been thanked as many times as God in Oscar acceptance speeches, the BBC reported.
