Harvey Weinstein's Tentative $44 Million Settlement: Key Insights And Implications

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that after some lengthy negotiations from all involved parties – disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, members of the Weinstein Company board, the New York attorney general's office, and Weinstein's alleged victims – a tentative agreement to pay out $44 million as a settlement to victims of Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct has been reached.

Adam Harris is an attorney for Bob Weinstein, Harvey's brother and fellow Weinstein Company co-founder, and he reportedly told Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware that a deal had been reached. Although his statement makes no mention of the dollar amount involved, he emphasized that this agreement is a significant step forward for all parties involved.

The $44 million figure would break down like this: $30 million would go directly to plaintiffs in cases against Weinstein, while the other $14 million would go towards legal fees for Weinstein's (mostly former) associates who are also named as defendants in the lawsuits in question. Plaintiffs in this case would include alleged victims, former Weinstein Co. employees, and studio creditors, whose legal fees would also be covered by the tentatively agreed-upon sum.

As for where that $44 million would come from, don't expect too much of it to come out of Weinstein's own pockets. Instead, sources familiar with negotiations say that it will come from various insurance policies held by Weinstein's former company and others. If the settlement is actually agreed upon, it won't let Weinstein off the hook in the criminal case that is reportedly pending against him in New York City, but it would settle all of the multiple civil suits that have been filed against him for alleged misconduct going back decades. That's the goal of the mediations that began last year anyway, but it's also possible that one or more of the suits would end up being excluded from any agreed-upon settlement. Then there are those in charge of overseeing the Weinstein Company's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, whose approval would also be needed to finalize any settlement.