The board of directors of The Weinstein Company said late Sunday the film and TV studio planned to file for bankruptcy after talks to sell it collapsed, several media outlets reported. Havovi Cooper reports.
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Ambra Battilana Gutierrez can be heard being pressured by Weinstein in audiotapes from a New York Police Department sting. In the 2015 tapes, he seemingly admits to groping the model on the previous day. Weinstein reaches a settlement with Gutierrez, according to ‘The New York Times.’(Photo: Pier Marco Tacca, Getty Images)
Time’s Up issued a letter to USA TODAY concerning Vance’s handling of a 2015 case involving model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. The New York Police Department Special Victims Division convinced Battilana Gutierrez, who reported allegations of sexual abuse against Weinstein, to meet with him a second time while wearing a wire. Vance’s office declined to file charges.
“Reports that District Attorney Cyrus Vance could have been improperly influenced by Mr. Weinstein and/or his representatives, and that senior officials within the DA’s office may have sought to intimidate Battilana are particularly disturbing and merit investigation,” the letter reads. “Similarly, reports that the New York Police Department chose to isolate Battilana from Vance’s staff because they feared his office was actively working to discredit her story demand immediate scrutiny.”
Weinstein’s lawyer David Boies donated $10,000 to Vance after his office declined to further pursue charges against Weinstein, as first reported by the International Business Times in October. A spokesperson for Boies issued a statement at the time saying: “David Boies was not Mr. Weinstein’s lawyer on the case that was in front of the DA..’s office. Mr. Boies has been a long time supporter of Cy Vance, both well before 2015 and well after. His contributions, like those of any other contributor, do not and never will influence the work of the DA’s office.”
The district attorney’s office has maintained that they have worked with the NYPD on this matter.
“A senior sex crimes prosecutor is assigned to this investigation, and the Office has been working with our partners in the NYPD since the new allegations came to light. As this is an active investigation, we will not be commenting further,” communications director Joan Vollero said in a statement in November.
USA TODAY has reached out to Vance’s office for further comment.
An additional report from New York Magazine published Friday, exploring allegations that the case was mishandled, pushed the legal fund of Time’s Up to call Cuomo to investigate.
“We are concerned that what appears to be the negative relationship between the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD makes it even less likely that victims who have been assaulted by rich or powerful men will be willing to come forward and that their assailants will be prosecuted and convicted,” the letter continues. “Given the multitude of credible reports of Mr. Weinstein’s behaviors after the DA’s decision not to prosecute in this case, arguably his continued victimization of others could have been avoided.”
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In Ronan Farrow’s bombshell October New Yorker story detailing Weinstein’s alleged crimes, he obtained audio from the NYPD’s sting operation in which Weinstein seems to admit groping the Filipina-Italian model, saying it is behavior he is “used to.”
After Battilana Gutierrez says Weinstein groped her breasts following their first meeting in 2015, she went to the police, and investigators from the Special Victims Division outfitted her with a wire to attempt to extract a confession during the next time they met.
As the investigation into Weinstein proceeded, negative items about Battilana Gutierrez began to show up in tabloids. A source told Farrow that, while Vance’s office collected enough evidence to charge Weinstein with a crime, the office declined to charge him, and Battilana Gutierrez signed a nondisclosure agreement with Weinstein’s legal team.
USA TODAY has contacted the district attorney’s office for comment. Below is the full statement issued by Time’s Up.
“TIME’S UP, a global organization dedicated to ending workplace sexual harassment and abuse, calls on the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, to launch an independent investigation of the New York County District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, and the office of the District Attorney to determine the facts related to the decision not to prosecute Harvey Weinstein for sexual abuse crimes against one of his accusers, Ambra Battilana.
Reports that District Attorney Cyrus Vance could have been improperly influenced by Mr. Weinstein and/or his representatives, and that senior officials within the DA’s office may have sought to intimidate Battilana are particularly disturbing and merit investigation. Similarly, reports that the New York Police Department chose to isolate Battilana from Vance’s staff because they feared his office was actively working to discredit her story demand immediate scrutiny.
An independent investigation into the full decision-making process in this case, including a full review of the correspondence within the office and with any representatives for Mr. Weinstein, must be undertaken immediately to ensure that prosecutorial integrity was maintained and to restore faith in the DA’s office.
We are concerned that what appears to be the negative relationship between the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD makes it even less likely that victims who have been assaulted by rich or powerful men will be willing to come forward and that their assailants will be prosecuted and convicted.
Greater awareness of sexual abuse crimes is essential, but it is hollow and can even be a deterrent if survivors cannot access justice through fair and unbiased prosecution.
Given the multitude of credible reports of Mr. Weinstein’s behaviors after the DA’s decision not to prosecute in this case, arguably his continued victimization of others could have been avoided.
There will only be real consequences for abusive behavior when our public officials, sworn to uphold the law, care as much about the rights of the victim as concerns for the accused.”
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