Amazon Studios chief Roy Price suspended amid Harvey Weinstein claims
Actress Rose McGowan alleges that she told Roy Price "over and over" that she had been raped by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Tuesday 17 October 2017 22:08, UK
Amazon Studios chief Roy Price has been suspended amid claims he "ignored" allegations Harvey Weinstein raped actress Rose McGowan.
In a series of posts on Twitter, McGowan claimed she warned Price about the Hollywood producer, who has been accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape by a string of stars.
In messages directed to Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, she said: "I told the head of your studio that HW raped me.
"Over & over I said it. He said it hadn't been proven. I said I was the proof."
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McGowan added that Amazon Studios "called to say my show was dead" after she asked it "to do the right thing" over a tie-up with The Weinstein Company.
"I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers," she told Mr Bezos. "I love @amazon but there is rot in Hollywood".
It comes as Price faces a separate allegation from producer Isa Hackett, who claims the Amazon Studio chief inappropriately propositioned her in the back of taxi in 2015.
In a statement, Amazon said it had placed Price on a leave of absence effective immediately.
It added: "We are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co."
Police in the UK and US are investigating claims of sexual assault against Weinstein, who has denied allegations of non-consensual sex.
Metropolitan Police's child abuse and sexual offences unit is assessing an alleged sexual assault .
Meanwhile, detectives in New York have reopened a 2004 case in which former aspiring actress Lucia Evans claims Weinstein forced her to perform a sex act on him at his Miramax offices.
Two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson has called Weinstein a "predator" and said he was "dangerous".
Asked if she thought there were others in Hollywood who acted like Weinstein, Thompson said: "Of course, many, many."
Fellow British actress Kate Beckinsale has described the movie mogul as "an emblem of a system that is sick".
Beckinsale claimed she was 17 years old when she was called to Weinstein's hotel room, where the producer opened the door in his bathrobe and offered her alcohol.
Hollywood actress Tippi Hedren has also voiced her opinion on Twitter, saying: "This is nothing new, nor is it limited to the entertainment industry. I dealt with sexual harassment all the time during my modelling and film career."
Having already made claims against Alfred Hitchcock in the past, Hedren renews her allegations: "Hitchcock wasn't the first... Hitch said he would ruin my career and I told him to do what he had to do. It has taken 50 years but it is about time women started standing up for themselves as they appear to be doing in the Weinstein case. Good for them!"
Weinstein was sacked by his company after the claims against him first surfaced and has been left by his wife, British designer Georgina Chapman.
When approached outside his daughter's home in Los Angeles, the 65-year-old told photographers: "I'm not doing OK, I'm trying - gotta get help. You know what? We all make mistakes."
He is now understood to be .