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Amazon Studios Chief Suspended After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Suspension follows Rose McGowan tweeting she told Amazon exec that Harvey Weinstein raped her

Head of Amazon Studios, Roy Price / Getty
October 13, 2017

The head of Amazon Studios, the e-commerce giant's division focused on developing movies and television shows, was suspended Thursday after a TV producer publicly accused him of making unwanted sexual advances toward her.

"Roy Price is on a leave of absence effective immediately," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

Price's suspension came after Isa Hackett, a producer of Amazon's critically acclaimed series "The Man in the High Castle," told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview published earlier on Thursday that the Amazon executive sexually harassed her in July 2015.

Hackett alleged that Price repeatedly propositioned her in a cab and made obscene comments, despite her rebuffs. The producer explained that the recently revealed sexual assault and harassment allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein inspired her to speak publicly about her own experience.

"I feel inspired by the other women who have been far braver than I am, who have come forward," Hackett said. "I hope we all continue to inspire each other and ultimately create change."

Price's suspension came after actress Rose McGowan tweeted at Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday that she had told the head of Amazon Studios—without naming Price—that Weinstein had raped her.

"Over and over I said it. He said it hadn't been proven. I said I was the proof," McGowan wrote on Twitter.

Weinstein reached a $100,000 settlement with McGowan in 1997 after an episode in a hotel room, the New York Times reported last week.

McGowan described her experience with Amazon and Weinstein on Twitter. She had explained in an interview last year that she sold her show to Amazon and indicated that she was going to write and direct it. But on Thursday, McGowan tweeted that when she heard a "Weinstein bailout was in the works" at Amazon, she asked Price to "do the right thing."

Price ignored McGowan, however, and went ahead with the deal, winning a "dirty Oscar," she wrote.

McGowan then called on Bezos "to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos, and sexual harassers. I love Amazon but there is rot in Hollywood."

In response to McGowan's allegations of rape, a representative for Weinstein said in a statement, "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein."

Amazon and the Weinstein Company, the high-profile studio Weinstein founded with his brother, are partners on two forthcoming streaming TV series, CNN noted. But after the Weinstein allegations were revealed, Amazon said "we are reviewing our options for the projects we have with the Weinstein Company."