AG Eric Schneiderman shows concern on sale of Weinstein's company

about 6 years in NY Daily

ALBANY — The state attorney general which has been investigating disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's old company for four months, is raising serious concerns about its imminent sale, the Daily News has learned.

A deal to sell the Weinstein Company to a group of investors led by ex-President Barack Obama's head of the Small Business Administration, Maria Contreras-Sweet, is said to be imminent.

The contract could be signed as soon as Sunday with a formal closing set for 30 days later, a source said.

Eric Schneiderman’s office has raised “grave concerns” about the likelihood that former Weinstein Company chief operating officer David Glasser will be named the CEO of the new company, a source said.

Scheiderman's ongoing civil rights investigation into the company determined that Glasser was a Weinstein “enabler,” the source said. A review of paperwork and interviews with former employees and witnesses led to that conclusion, the source said.

Actresses Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd and Annabella Sciorra are among the more than 100 women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to rape. Weinstein was fired from his own company and resigned from its board days after the first allegations became public in October.

The attorney general's office is “pushing to get Glasser out of (the new company) and other Weinstein company executives who may be given a leadership role.”

Schneiderman is expected to file a civil rights lawsuit against the Weinstein Company in coming days and could follow with a request for a temporary restraining order to stop the sale of the company if the office's concerns are not met, the source said.

The AG's office in recent days has been in “intense conversations” with Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies, which is backing the purchase.

“Burkle tried to be in the background, with Contreras-Sweet the front person, even though she has no Hollywood experience,” the source said. “But in reality, they are setting it up so one of Harvey's enablers, one of the people who failed to hold Harvey accountable, would be the CEO of the new company, He is the exact wrong person to be taking control of this company.”

Schneiderman's office has also expressed concerns that a promised victims compensation fund and a system to deal with future complaints from employees about future sexual harassment complaints may be inadequate, the source said.

Yucaipa Companies, Contreras-Sweet, and Glasser could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday.

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