UK and US police launch investigations into Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations
The Met Police is looking into an allegation of sexual assault said to have taken place in London during the 1980s
London's Metropolitan Police and the New York Police Department have launched investigations into sexual assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
BBC News reported that the NYPD was "looking to speak" to an individual who had made an allegation from 2004; the police force also said in a statement that it was conducting a review into any additional complaints.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement that Merseyside Police had passed on an allegation of sexual abuse which was said to have taken place in London in the 1980s.
Weinstein has denied any allegations of non-consensual sex.
The news comes after a report from the New York Times - published on 5th October - revealed multiple allegations of sexual harassment against the former head of The Weinstein Company. A week later, a 10 month investigation by The New Yorker reported that 13 women had accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. Three of the women alleged that the producer had raped them.
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In the days since the reports were released, more actresses have come out to accuse Weinstein of sexual harassment, including Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
Actress Emma Thompson told Newsnight that Weinstein was "at the top of a very particular iceberg", adding, “I don’t think you can describe him as a sex addict. He’s a predator. But what he’s, as it were, the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment and belittling and bullying, and interference.”
On Thursday, actress Rose McGowan alleged, in a series of tweets to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, that she had been sexually assaulted by Weinstein.
Variety later confirmed that Amazon had suspended its studio head, Roy Price, and that the streaming service was reviewing its position on any Weinstein collaborations currently in the works – which include two high profile TV projects with Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and Oscar-winning film director David O Russell.
