Judge rejects $18.9m settlement against Harvey Weinstein

KATHMANDU: A US judge Tuesday rejected a proposed $18.9m settlement of misconduct cases against abusive Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The fund would have been distributed between dozens of female claimants.

However, various other accusers had called it unfair, saying it “absolved” Weinstein, his producer brother and the company board of liability.

Weinstein was given a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault in March.

The settlement would have marked an end to nearly all of the civil claims against him, The Weinstein Company and several of its directors.

District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed it for putting women who had merely met Weinstein on an almost equal footing with women who he had raped or sexually abused.

It also would have typically awarded $10-15,000 to each claimant, whereas $15m would have gone towards Weinstein’s defense costs.

In a 20-minute phone hearing, Judge Hellerstein said: “The idea that Harvey Weinstein can get a defense fund ahead of the claimants is obnoxious.”

On Wednesday, lawyers for six of Weinstein’s accusers filed an objection to the proposed payout, calling it a “cruel hoax”.

(With inputs from Agencies)