Harvey Weinstein's brother Bob Weinstein accused of sexual harassment by TV showrunner

Bob Weinstein denied the claims.

ByABC News
October 18, 2017, 1:46 PM

— -- Bob Weinstein, who co-founded The Weinstein Company with brother Harvey Weinstein, has been accused of sexual harassment by a female executive producer of the TV series "The Mist."

Amanda Segel, a showrunner for the Spike TV drama, made the allegations in a report published Tuesday by Variety.

Segel said Bob Weinstein repeatedly made unwanted romantic overtures toward her, including asking her out to dinner.

"‘No’ should be enough," Segel told Variety. "After ‘no,’ anybody who has asked you out should just move on. Bob kept referring to me that he wanted to have a friendship. He didn’t want a friendship. He wanted more than that. My hope is that ‘no’ is enough from now on."

On ABC News' "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Bob Weinstein's attorney, Bert Fields, refuted her claim. "It is absolutely not true," he said. "What she is claiming is bogus."

He added that "there was nothing that came anywhere near sexual harassment."

He said Bob Weinstein was "stunned" and "extremely angry" when he heard Segel's claim.

In a statement sent to ABC News on Tuesday, Fields said, "Variety’s story about Bob Weinstein is riddled with false and misleading assertions by Ms. Segel and we have the emails to prove it, but even if you believe what she says it contains not a hint of any inappropriate touching or even any request for such touching. There is no way in the world that Bob Weinstein is guilty of sexual harassment, and even if you believed what this person asserts there is no way it would amount to that."

He told "GMA" that Bob Weinstein and Segel had a dinner together and afterward concluded that they would stay friends.

"They went out to dinner and said this is not going to be a romantic thing -- we're just going to be friends," Fields said, adding that Bob Weinstein has emails as proof. "After that, the subject never came up."

Fields said Bob Weinstein and Segel continued to have dinner together but it was never romantic.

"These two people had a working relationship that was partly social," he said. "They went out to dinner many ... times -- sometimes at her invitation, sometimes at his."

In a statement, Segel's attorney told ABC News, "Amanda Segel was the victim of sexual harassment by Bob Weinstein. As she eloquently put it, ‘the word ‘no’ should be enough’ for any woman. Unfortunately, it was not in her case. Ms. Segel should be applauded for coming forward with her truthful allegations. The efforts to deny the harassment are shameful."

The Weinstein Company referred to Fields' statement when asked by ABC News for comment.

Spike TV said in a statement to ABC News, "We take all allegations of this nature very seriously, and are investigating."

This latest report came as the remaining board members of The Weinstein Company, including Bob Weinstein, met by conference call to discuss the dozens of allegations of sexual harassment and assault made against his brother, Harvey Weinstein.

The board fired Harvey Weinstein from the company, and earlier Tuesday he also resigned from the board. But he is still pursuing a claim that he was wrongfully fired from the company.

Bob Weinstein has publicly decried his brother's actions and said he was unaware of the severity of the allegations.

The Weinstein Company has been under pressure since sexual assault and harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein were first reported by The New York Times and The New Yorker this past month.

The disgraced movie mogul has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, including actresses Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the movie executive said, "Any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein."

"Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."

On Saturday, Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors met ... to discuss the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and has voted well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately expel him from the academy," the organization said in a statement on Saturday.

In a statement, The Weinstein Company board of directors said, "The board today ratified its decision to terminate Harvey Weinstein's employment with the Weinstein Co. Harvey Weinstein resigned from the board."

Meanwhile, the scandal-plagued company appears to be setting itself up for a sale.

The Weinstein Company said Monday it will get an immediate cash infusion from Colony Capital and negotiate with the private equity firm for a potential sale of some or all of its assets down the road.

Colony Capital was founded by President Donald Trump’s close friend and confidant Tom Barrack, who chaired Trump’s inaugural committee.

Despite the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Barrack said in a statement the company "has substantial value and growth potential."

Weinstein Company board member Tarak Ben Ammar said the cash infusion would "help stabilize the company’s current operations."

ABC News' Aaron Katersky also contributed to this report.

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