As Weinstein Co. suffers losses one after another, in another development, it will now file for bankruptcy protection after a bid to sell its assets to an investor group collapsed, the company's board of directors said Sunday night. In a statement, the board said: "While we recognize that this is an extremely unfortunate outcome for our employees, our creditors and any victims, the Board has no choice but to pursue the only viable option to maximize the company's remaining value: an orderly bankruptcy process."
Acting as a final blow to an already-tainted organisation, the board has been unable to sell the studio to an investor group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet -- who ran the Small Business Administration under the ex-US President Obama from 2014 to 2017. Had the deal gone through, it would have given Contreras-Sweet's consortium control of Weinstein Co.'s assets in a deal worth about $500 million. Under what was proposed, the Weinstein Co. was to be renamed under a new board of directors, the majority of which would be composed of women.
The deal came to a halt when the New York attorney general's office filed a civil rights lawsuit against Weinstein Co. and its co-founders on February 11. The statement goes on to add: "We have believed in this company and in the goals set forth by the Attorney General. Based on the events of the past week, however, we must conclude that your plan to buy this company was illusory and would only leave this company hobbling toward its demise to the detriment of all constituents."
The Weinstein Co. has been in the middle of controversies ever since former co-chairman and co-founder Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and assault against dozens of women in Hollywood. Harvey was then fired from the company on October 8 but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
The scandal also triggered #MeToo movement in support of sexual harassment victims as well as #TimesUp fund to help them.
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