Harvey Weinstein fired from studio he co-founded after sexual harassment allegations

LOS ANGELES - Movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been forced out of his company after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against the indie film impresario last week, The Weinstein Co. said Sunday.

'In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company ... have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,” the company said in a statement.

The firing comes just days after the New York Times published a story detailing allegations that the Oscar-winning movie and TV producer had sexually harassed numerous actresses and employees over a span of more than 20 years. Weinstein had settled with at least eight women who accused him of harassment, the article said.

The executive, who founded The Weinstein Co. in 2005 with his brother Bob Weinstein and served as its co-chairman, lost key supporters inside and outside his company as he came under pressure to leave.

Over the weekend, Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom quit representing Weinstein after coming under criticism for working with him. Crisis manager Lanny Davis also stepped down from Weinstein's team.

Weinstein Co.'s board was increasingly divided on whether to allow him to remain on the job.At least three Weinstein Co. board members resigned their positions last week in the wake of the allegations. The board members who resigned include billionaire Dirk Ziff, Marc Lasry and Tim Sarnoff.

Remaining board members said Friday they had hired a law firm to investigate the sexual harassment allegations. At the time, the company said Weinstein was taking an indefinite leave of absence but stopped short of calling for his ouster as some had demanded.

On Saturday, MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski threatened to pull out of her book deal with Weinstein's publishing imprint unless he resigns.

Meanwhile, allegations about Weinstein's alleged misbehavior continued to mount, putting more pressure on the board to act.

A report surfaced late Friday in the Huffington Post claiming that Weinstein had made unwanted sexual advances toward a TV journalist, Lauren Sivan, a decade ago in New York, including cornering Sivan at a restaurant and masturbating in front of her.