LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on sexual harassment and abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
The Los Angeles lawyer for an Italian actress who has accused Harvey Weinstein of rape says it has had a “humongous impact on her life” and she is extremely scared.
Attorney David M. Ring told reporters Friday that his client met Weinstein briefly at the L.A. Italia film festival in 2013 and he bullied his way into her hotel room.
Ring says that she gave Los Angeles police detectives a description of sexual assault and rape.
The attorney says the actress has had no interaction with Weinstein since then.
Weinstein’s representative has denied the Oscar-winner had non-consensual sex with any woman.
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12:05 p.m.
A former television and stage actress says Harvey Weinstein ruined her career ambition after he exposed himself to her during a meeting in 1989.
Speaking at a Friday press conference with attorney Gloria Allred, Heather Kerr said that she been working in the office of an entertainment business manager and sometimes answered the phones. Weinstein was a frequent caller and at one point he suggested they meet at an office in Westwood. After she arrived, he told her to sit on the couch, sat next to her and kept telling her she needed to be “good” if she wanted to succeed. He then pulled down his zipper and exposed himself.
Kerr says she backed away from him, left the room and hurried out of the building. After some theater work, she quit acting. “I felt so powerless,” she tearfully recalled. Her acting credits in the 1980s include the TV shows “The Facts of Life” and “Mama’s Family.”
Weinstein is facing criminal charges in three cities after allegations of rape and sexual assault.
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10:10 a.m.
The Television Academy says it has voted to begin disciplinary proceedings against disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The academy’s board of governors issued a statement Friday declaring that “sexual harassment in any form is abhorrent and totally unacceptable.”
The academy, which bestows the Emmy awards, said a hearing has been set for November to consider “action up to and including termination of academy membership.”
Weinstein has recently been accused of multiple acts of sexual harassment and assault spanning decades. He has been fired from The Weinstein Co., a TV and movie film production company he co-founded with his brother Bob. He already has been expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
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5:30 a.m.
A group of staffers for the company co-founded by Harvey Weinstein have spoken out about the allegations of decades of sexual conduct against the media mogul by signing a letter stating they didn’t know they were “working for a serial sexual predator.”
The anonymous letter signed simply by “Select Members of The Weinstein Company Staff” was published online by The New Yorker on Thursday. In a separate story, the magazine says the letter was penned by about 30 Weinstein employees.
The employees say they knew of Weinstein’s “infamous temper” and that he could be “manipulative,” but didn’t know “that he used his power to systematically assault and silence women.”
Representatives for Weinstein and The Weinstein Company didn’t immediately return a request for comment Friday.
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3 a.m.
An attorney says he will detail allegations by an Italian actress and model who has told police disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2013.
David M. Ring is expected to address reporters outside a downtown Los Angeles courthouse on Friday afternoon. A news release announcing the press conference confirms several details included a Los Angeles Times report about the police investigation, including that the woman spoke to detectives in an interview on Thursday.
Police have confirmed they are investigating but have not released any further details.
The woman was not named in the Times story or the announcement of Ring’s press conference.
Weinstein’s representative has denied the Oscar-winner had non-consensual sex with any woman.
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