Queen STRIPS Harvey Weinstein of his 2004 CBE for contribution to British film industry after disgraced producer was jailed for 23 years for rape in New York
By FAITH RIDLER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:57 BST, 18 September 2020 | UPDATED: 13:35 BST, 18 September 2020
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein has been stripped of his CBE after he was convicted of rape in New York.
Weinstein, 68, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a US court in February, was granted an honorary CBE for his contribution to the British film industry in 2004.
A notice in The Gazette, the UK's official public record, today announced the Queen had directed the honour to be 'cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.'
It read: 'The Queen has directed that the appointment of Harvey Weinstein to be an Honorary Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated January 19 2004, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.'
A string of actresses made harassment claims against Weinstein ahead of his conviction earlier this year, including Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Léa Seydoux.
More than 80 women came forward – with many saying they were blacklisted from lucrative projects if they rejected his advances.
Weinstein was awarded the honorary CBE in 2004 for services to the British film industry.
His credits include classic films Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, Gangs Of New York and Shakespeare In Love.
Throughout his career his films garnered more than 300 Oscar nominations, with Meryl Streep jokingly referring to him as 'God' at the 2012 Golden Globes.
Honours can been removed on the advice of the forfeiture committee and with the approval of the Queen. The committee considers whether the holder of an honour has brought the system into disrepute.
Others who have had honours stripped include Russian spy Anthony Blunt and Fred Goodwin, who steered the Royal Bank of Scotland to an annual loss of £24.1billion.
Senior Labour MP Chi Onwurah has been calling for the CBE to be removed from Weinstein since 2017, when several women came forward to allege serious sexual misconduct.
Announcing his CBE in 2004, Weinstein said: 'My life and my career have been greatly influenced and enriched by great British film-makers and authors and so I am especially honoured and humbled to be receiving the CBE.'
Prosecutors in Los Angeles have filed a request to extradite Weinstein from New York, in a bid to try the disgraced Hollywood producer on five counts of sexual assault.
If successful, it would pave the way for Weinstein, the money and the power behind some of the biggest Hollywood films of the past 25 years, to be put on trial again.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
8747525/Harvey-Weinstein-stripped-CBE.html