Harvey Weinstein, accusers reach $25 million global settlement

At least 29 women who accuse film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse, ranging from rape to harassment, have agreed to a $25 million settlement that would not require Weinstein to admit any wrongdoing or pay any of the settlement himself, The New York Times reports. If approved by two federal judges, the deal would split the $25 million among plaintiffs, future accusers, and New York's attorney general, paid out by insurance companies for Weinstein's bankruptcy production company. It is part of a $47 million bankruptcy settlement that would also cover $12 million in legal costs for Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein, and other Weinstein Co. board members.

At least four of Weinstein's accusers have rejected the deal, The Washington Post reports, and two said they plan to oppose it in court. Weinstein's accusers, including actresses and former employees from four countries, and their lawyers offered mixed reactions to the tentative settlement. Some called the money for Weinstein's legal costs "shameful" and inappropriate, while others said the deal, while flawed, was the best offer they were likely to get. The proposed settlement has steadily dwindled from a $90 million victims' fund offered as part of a failed 2017 deal to purchase Weinstein Co. assets.

Louisette Geiss, a plaintiff in a Manhattan federal class-action lawsuit covered under the settlement, said it's not just about Weinstein himself. "We are trying to create a new reality where this type of behavior is not accepted," she said, and the lawsuit was always meant to serve as "a wake-up call for all companies that they will be held accountable if they protect predators in their midst."

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Weinstein is due in court Jan. 6 to face rape and sexual assault charges. His bail was upped to $5 million, from $1 million, on Wednesday after prosecutors said he was mishandling his electronic ankle monitor. Prosecutors and Weinstein's lawyers offered different assessments of the size of Weinstein's remaining fortune.