On Friday, Queen Elizabeth ordered that disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein be stripped of the prestigious royal honor CBE, which she had given to him back in 2004 for his contributions to the British film industry.
“The Queen has directed that the appointment of Harvey Weinstein to be an Honorary Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 29 January 2004, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order,” said a statement released to the London Gazette. [1]
The British government stated that while the removal of U.K. honors is rare, it can happen when the holder has brought the honors system “into disrepute.” This includes when the holder “has been found guilty by the courts of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than three months,” according to NBC News.
Weinstein, 68, was known for being one of the most powerful men in Hollywood for decades before he was brought down by dozens of women accusing him of sexual assault with allegations that launched the #MeToo movement. Earlier, this year Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years behind bars for the rape and sexual assaults of two women. His attorneys are planning to appeal this conviction, but he is also facing additional charges in Los Angeles, California on other sex crimes.
Earlier this month, Weinstein’s lawyers revealed [2] that he didn’t take the stand at his trial earlier this year because a judge ruled that prosecutors could question him about 25 prior acts of bad behavior. Weinstein’s attorneys Arthur Aidala and Barry Kamins revealed this during an interview on the New York State Bar Association’s podcast “Miranda Warnings,” where they talked about their client’s upcoming appeal.
“They were going to let them (prosecutors) get into every argument he had with his secretary, every argument that he had with his first assistant, that he punched his own brother in the nose over a fight,” Aidala explained. “By the time they went through all 25 things, even though they were all petty — none of them had to do with an arrest or a criminal act — nobody would have believed anything out of this man’s mouth.”
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com [3] and is used by permission.
Read more at UpliftingToday.com:
Blake Shelton And Gwen Stefani Going Through A ‘Rough Patch’ After ‘Nightmare’ Move To LA Mansion [4]
Queen Elizabeth Broke 600 Year-Old Tradition After 9/11 Attacks To Honor America [5]
Candace Cameron Bure Fires Back At ‘All The Christians’ Outraged By Photo Of Husband Grabbing Her Breast [6]