Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has ordered that the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein be stripped of the prestigious CBE honor he received for services to the British film industry.
"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," said a statement posted Friday in the London Gazette — an official outlet that reports on U.K. honors.
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Removal of official U.K. honors is rare, but can take place where the holder has brought the honors system "into disrepute," according to the U.K. government.
This can include when the holder "has been found guilty by the courts of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than three months."
Weinstein, 68, was sentenced to 23 years in prison earlier this year after he was convicted in a New York court of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, as well as a count of criminal sexual act in the first degree against Mimi Haley, a former "Project Runway" production assistant.
Each took the stand to describe their experiences in oftentimes graphic and emotional terms.
In all, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, including rape, sexual assault and harassment, going back decades.
The flood of allegations against Weinstein, first reported in October 2017 by investigative journalists at The New York Times and The New Yorker, fueled the global reckoning over sexual misconduct by powerful men in entertainment, the news media, finance and other high-profile industries.
They became part of a wider societal reckoning known as the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein faces further charges in Los Angeles but the case has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sexual activity.