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The legal battle centres around a loan from AI International Holdings, which had provided $45 million to two Weinstein Co. affiliates and Harvey Weinstein himself.
Harvey Weinstein was once among the most formidable figures in Hollywood. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Currently behind bars and entangled in another legal battle, former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has filed a new lawsuit against his brother, Bob Weinstein, and former executives of their defunct film company. In the lawsuit, Weinstein claims he was deceived into personally guaranteeing a $45 million loan in 2016, only to later realise that the funds were misappropriated for personal benefit while he was being deliberately set up for downfall.
At 72, Harvey Weinstein remains in custody as he awaits a retrial on sex crime charges in New York. His latest lawsuit, filed Thursday as part of an ongoing civil case in New York City, emerges amid allegations of defaulting on a substantial loan, according to the Toronto Sun
“Harvey Weinstein was deceived by those closest to him and secured a $45 million dollar loan under the pretence of saving The Weinstein Company. While Harvey personally guaranteed the loan, others within The Weinstein Company enriched themselves and strategically undermined him, leaving him ‘holding the bag’ of debt while ‘lining their pockets’ when the company was in crisis,” his attorney, Imran Ansari, asserted in a statement.
Ansari further claimed that Bob Weinstein and other top executives at The Weinstein Company conspired to engineer Harvey’s downfall in an attempt to take control of the struggling studio. Their alleged plan, according to the lawsuit, culminated in the company’s bankruptcy in 2018, as the revelations of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct scandals shook Hollywood.
Bob Weinstein’s attorney, Brian Kohn, dismissed the claims outright, responding Friday via email to The Associated Press with a succinct rebuttal: “Harvey’s allegations are entirely without merit.”
Among those named in the lawsuit is former Weinstein Co. chief operating officer David Glasser, now the head of 101 Studios, which produces the hit series Yellowstone for Paramount.
The legal battle reportedly centres around a loan from AI International Holdings, which had provided $45 million to two Weinstein Co. affiliates and Harvey Weinstein himself. The lender later sued when the loan allegedly went into default.
Harvey Weinstein contends that Bob Weinstein, Glasser and others lured him into backing the loan under false pretences, assuring him that the money would be used to stabilise the company’s precarious finances. Instead, he claims, millions were siphoned off for improper purposes, depleting company resources and leaving him to shoulder the financial burden, informs the Toronto Sun.
“As a direct result of these actions, the Companies were drained of, at the very least, $12 million in cash that should have been allocated to repay the Loan owed to AI International. This mismanagement left the Companies unable to satisfy their financial obligations, resulting in insolvency and placing Weinstein at substantial personal financial risk as the guarantor of the Loan,” the lawsuit states.
Filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, the lawsuit argues that Weinstein has suffered “severe and outrageous financial and reputational harm” due to the alleged scheme. It levels multiple accusations of financial misconduct against Bob Weinstein, Glasser and other former company executives.
Weinstein claims that Bob Weinstein and Glasser negotiated a settlement with AI International for approximately $15 million, securing their own escape from financial responsibility while leaving him on the hook for the remaining $30 million plus interest. His lawsuit aims to relieve him of any liability tied to the loan, while also seeking punitive damages for alleged fraud, financial misdeeds, and legal expenses.
Bob Weinstein, for his part, has recently sought to quash subpoenas issued by Harvey Weinstein’s legal team, which request documents and a deposition.
Harvey Weinstein, who also co-founded Miramax, was once among the most formidable figures in Hollywood, backing critically acclaimed films such as Pulp Fiction and The Crying Game. However, his legacy was permanently tainted when, in 2017, he became the central figure of the #MeToo movement, as several women came forward with harrowing allegations of sexual misconduct.
Despite the overwhelming accusations, Weinstein has consistently maintained that all sexual encounters were consensual.
Reportedly, he is set to be retried on charges of sexually assaulting a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013. A separate charge filed in September accuses him of forcing oral sex on another woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
His 2020 conviction, which resulted in a 23-year prison sentence, was overturned last year after an appeals court determined that the trial judge had unfairly permitted testimony based on allegations unrelated to the case at hand. Now, as Weinstein fights for his freedom, he is also waging a legal battle to clear himself of the financial wreckage left behind by the empire he once ruled.
