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DGA moves to kick out Harvey Weinstein

Producer Harvey Weinstein speaks onstage at The Weinstein Company's pre-Oscar dinner at Montage Beverly Hills on Feb. 25, 2017.
Producer Harvey Weinstein speaks onstage at The Weinstein Company's pre-Oscar dinner at Montage Beverly Hills on Feb. 25, 2017.
(
Rich Polk/Getty Images for The Weinstein C
)

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Disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein has already been removed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The TV Academy is also considering expelling him.

Now, the Directors Guild of America also wants to kick him out.

The move comes after a litany of sexual harassment and assault accusations against Weinstein, with actresses and other women coming forward on an almost daily basis.

DGA president Thomas Schlamme announced on Saturday that the organization had filed disciplinary charges against Weinstein on October 13, 2017. He issued a statement that read:

The DGA has a long-standing practice of not commenting on internal union matters, but has decided to make an exception in this case to acknowledge the filing of charges. However, because of due process concerns that are a part of federal requirements for labor unions, the DGA cannot comment further.

After a national board meeting on Saturday afternoon, the DGA posted a statement on its website that reads, in part:
The DGA condemns sexual harassment. There must be no tolerance for such deplorable abuses of power. This isn’t about one person. We must recognize sexual harassment is endemic in our society, and painfully, in our industry. 

We believe that every individual has the right to a safe workplace. The unfortunate truth is that there are those who abuse the power that they hold. 

For far too long, many have not spoken out – directors, agents, crew, executives, performers, producers, writers. This shameful code of complicity must be broken. 


In 2015, the DGA
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published a report showing that mean directed nearly 94 percent of the feature films released in 2013 and 2014. The vast majority of those were white. A
more recent DGA report says the number of first-time women and minorities directing episodic TV has significantly increased.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it is investigating an allegation that Weinstein raped an Italian actress in 2013 while she was in town for a film festival.

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