Back at the start of October 2017, the New York Times released a report detailing film producer Harvey Weinstein‘s heinous history of sexual assault. Nine days later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which comprises more than 7,000 members of the film industry, kicked Weinstein out as actresses continued to come forward, confirming the New York Times‘ report.
But a new report, this time from the Page Six, now says that members of the Academy wish they hadn’t kicked him out so quickly.
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“Harvey opened the floodgates,” an unnamed male Academy member told Page Six. “Now the Academy’s drowning in a tide of s—. They don’t know what hit them.”
Weinstein was the first in a slew of Hollywood actors, directors and producers who have been called out publicly for sexual misconduct. Many of those people were members of the Academy, including Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck. According to Page Six’s anonymous sources, the heads of the Academy are unsure if they should punish these men in the same way did the with Weinstein with expulsion.
“But they didn’t give themselves time to plot out how to deal with this going forward,” one female AMPAS member said. “Kathleen Kennedy and some other female governors panicked and felt compelled to act. They thought (Weinstein) could hurt AMPAS’ cred. Some of them did admit this was a slippery slope. But I don’t think they imagined how slippery. It’s definitely caused some problems and fights among the board members.”
Academy CEO Dawn Hudson released a statement in late October on how the Academy plans to handle all of these allegations.
“(A) task force will finalize procedures for handling allegations of misconduct, assuring that we can address them fairly and expeditiously,” the statement said. “This process will ultimately guide the board of governors in assessing if certain allegations warrant action regarding membership. Those procedures will be sent to you in the new year.”
However, some Academy members told Page Six that they’re already growing inpatient with the lack of action.
“None of (us) really know what the governors are thinking on this subject,” one member said. “They rarely tell us anything until they’ve decided. Then we have to read it in the trades or get a curt e-mail from Dawn, usually after it appears in the press. All we can do is roll our eyes. I’m in favor of taking a very measured approach and not a knee-jerk reaction.”
“They keep saying that,” another female member said. “But, right now, it’s easier to get someone an Academy Award than to get them expelled from the Academy.”
