The Wiesenthal Center was funded by dirty money from the mortgage mess (Roland Arnall was co-founder).
JTA — The Simon Wiesenthal Center said it hasn’t considered withdrawing an award given to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired by the production company he founded following a string of sexual harassment allegations.
Weinstein received the 2015 Humanitarian Award from the group, which promotes tolerance, and was honored at its annual gala dinner. Weinstein received the award due in part to his contributions to the group, which have totaled nearly $100,000. That year’s dinner brought in $1.75 million.
“We honored Harvey Weinstein because he and his company, like many other leaders in the entertainment world, have been longtime supporters of the Wiesenthal Center and its work,” Simon Wiesenthal Center spokeswoman Marcial Lavina wrote in an email to JTA.
Asked whether the group would withdraw the award, Lavina wrote, “That hasn’t been up for discussion.”
In his speech accepting the award, Weinstein said of anti-Semites that Jews “better stand up and kick these guys in the ass.”
