USC Declines Weinstein’s $5 Million Female Directors Endowment
NO THANKS
As part of his apology last week, disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, currently mired in multiple sexual abuse and harassment allegations, pledged to give $5 million toward a foundation that would give scholarships to women directors at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Late Tuesday afternoon, USC said it would not accept the money, or host any such foundation. A statement sent to The Daily Beast from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, read, “The USC School of Cinematic Arts will not proceed with Mr. Weinstein’s pledge to fund a $5M endowment for women filmmakers.” The Daily Beast has sought further clarification, and will update this story if and when comment from USC it is forthcoming. Explaining his planned donation, Weinstein had written, “While this might seem coincidental, it has been in the works for a year. It will be named after my mom and I won’t disappoint her.”
—Tim Teeman