An announcement has confirmed that the movie producer Harvey Weinstein has had his honorary CBE removed as a result of his conviction for rape and sexual assault. The Gazette, which is the official public record has announced that the Queen has annulled his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
The notice in the Gazette said: “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 29 January 2004, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”
UNN’s Oliver Down understands that this decision was made at a recent meeting of the Honours Forfeiture Committee, which is a committee independent from government. Harvey Weinstein was awarded his CBE in 2004, but in March of this year, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for a number of sexual convictions.
Weinstein’s CBE was for services to the film industry. He also, in 2017, had the fellowship he received from the British Film Institute (BFI) in 2002 rescinded. The Honours Forfeiture Committee is obliged to meet in cases like this in order to determine whether recipients of honours are guilty of behaviour that is “deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute”.
In 2015 Rolf Harris lost his CBE after being jailed for 12 indecent assaults in 2014. In addition to this, in 2012 Fred Goodwin who was the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, had his knighthood removed due to his role in the collapse of the bank.
The committee has come under fire by some, who believe that the committee should have made a speedier decision once Weinstein was convicted in February. In its defence, the committee is likely to point to the Covid-19 pandemic in its justification.
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Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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