Following allegations of sexual harassment against the Hollywood Czar Harvey Weinstein, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called an emergency meeting on Saturday to oust him from the board. The Board also discussed the accusations on Weinstein.

With Weinstein’s dismissal, the board of governors of the prestigious academy wants to send out a clear message to the industry. It also blamed Hollywood of “wilful ignorance and complicity”.
It voted “well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately expel him from the academy,” reported HuffPost.

With Weinstein’s dismissal, the board of governors of the prestigious academy wants to send out a clear message to the industry.

“We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over,” the board said in a statement.

The board called the accusation against Weinstein as “repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents.”

The meeting came out as a surprise as the board reviews its current member list once a year in the spring normally.

Weinstein as “repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represent

Weinstein was recently accused of sexual harassment and abuse of women in the industry. Over a dozen women opened up about their instances of unsolicited sexual advances that Weinstein asked of them. And three women have accused the powerful film executive of rape. Even men from Hollywood haven’t held back against Weinstein’s behaviours as several surfaced in the public explaining his sexual misconduct.

On Wednesday, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts cancelled his membership. It commented on his behaviour saying, “completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA’s values.”
“We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry,” the BAFTA statement said. Similarly, Disney also announced on Wednesday that it removed him as a producer on the upcoming “Artemis Fowl” film.

Popular actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love—a film produced by Weinstein also indicted him of harassing her, reported New York Times on Tuesday. The news of Weinstein’s alleged harassment stories are spreading like wildfire in Hollywood as it moves to detach itself from his ongoing projects.