The Academy sets meeting to discuss Harvey Weinstein scandal

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday its Board Of Governors will meet this weekend to discuss “any actions warranted” against Harvey Weinstein, the subject of several exposes detailing decades of alleged sexual harassment and abuse against women. The Oscar organizers also condemned Weinstein as part of a statement:

“The Academy finds the conduct described in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to be repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents. The Board of Governors will be holding a special meeting on Saturday, October 14, to discuss the allegations against Weinstein and any actions warranted by the Academy.”

Weinstein won the 1998 Best Picture Oscar as producer of “Shakespeare In Love.” He was also personally nominated for 2002’s “Gangs of New York.” Of course Miramax and later The Weinstein Company had other Best Picture winners like “The English Patient,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist.”

Earlier Wednesday, the UK’s film body the British Academy of Film and Television Arts suspended Weinstein’s membership “in light of recent very serious allegations,” the organization said.

BAFTA has informed the embattled producer that the suspension is effective immediately. In terms of the Motion Picture Academy, however, stripping someone’s membership after they have been involved in a scandal is largely unprecedented. Roman Polanski would lead the list of Oscar winners who remain in good stead with the Academy.

In fact, long after Polanski was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in the 70’s, he was actually awarded an Oscar for Best Director in 2003 for “The Pianist,” ironically beating Rob Marshall who had been the favorite for directing another of Miramax’s Best Picture winners, “Chicago.”

Polanski still cannot come back to the US or face arrest and jail time for skipping out of the country during that case. During the scandal that surrounded two-time Oscar winner Mel Gibson, and which turned him into the kind of industry pariah Weinstein finds himself being labeled now,  there was no action taken by the Academy and he remains a member and actually received a Best Director nomination for “Hacksaw Ridge” earlier this year.

Past scandals around others like Bill Cosby and Robert Blake have not resulted in any action by the Television Academy, for which I served on the Board for six years. Similarly other scandal-affected Oscar winners like Ingrid Bergman and Charlie Chaplin did not see their standing in the Academy affected at the time even though there were calls from Congress for their banishment from the US  and both were driven overseas for several years.  In both cases, as with Polanski, they were ironically honored with Oscars after the outrage died down.

As one Academy member told me this morning, action to kick someone out of the Academy usually revolves around something bad they have done that breaks Academy rules and guidelines. The most prevalent of that sort of thing happened after I reported Nicholas Chartier,  producer of the 2009 Best Picture nominee “The Hurt Locker,” had been sending emails to voters urging them to vote for his movie over another nominee, “Avatar.” After my reports appeared in the Los Angeles Times, where I was working at the time, he was stripped of his Oscar tickets and not allowed to attend the show. His film won and he was quietly presented his Oscar weeks later after meeting with then-Academy President Tom Sherak.