The monarch has stripped the disgraced movie producer of his honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
“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,” read a notice from the Palace.
Weinstein, whose film credits include Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Gangs of New York, received the prestigious honour in 2004 for his contribution to the British film industry. “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,” he said at the time.
Now that honour – the highest-ranking order given by the queen – has been revoked.
Weinstein (68) was found guilty of rape earlier this year and sentenced to 23 years in jail. Long before his conviction however, there were calls for the Queen to strip him of his honour. Senior Labour MP Chi Onwurah has been demanding Weinstein’s CBE be removed since 2017, when several women first came forward accusing him of sexual conduct.
Since then over 80 women have accused him of sex crimes ranging from rape to harassment.
Honours can be removed but must be subject to the queen’s approval. In a case similar to Weinstein, Australian entertainer Rolf Harris had his revoked in 2015 after being found guilty of sex attacks on girls as young as seven. Ninety-year-old Rolf, who was given the award in 2006 after painting the queen’s portrait to mark her 80th birthday, was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
Others who have had theirs stripped include Russian spy Anthony Blunt and former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Fred Goodwin, who was responsible for the bank’s collapse.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, bbc.co.uk
