Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Weinstein and his former associates, including board members of his former studio, didn’t admit wrongdoing, the people said. The deal still needs to be approved by a bankruptcy judge and a judge overseeing a proposed class-action lawsuit. The bulk of the settlement money will be paid by insurance policies, including those held by his former studio, Weinstein Co., some of the people said.
The deal resolves all but two of the civil sexual-misconduct lawsuits and other legal claims filed against Mr. Weinstein, the people said.
The tentative settlement won’t affect the criminal case brought by Manhattan prosecutors, which is set to go to trial on Jan. 6. Mr. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
The settlement is the culmination of more than a year of negotiations, which involved lawyers for Mr. Weinstein, his former film studio, the New York attorney general’s office, insurers and Mr. Weinstein’s accusers. The negotiations also included the former associates of Mr. Weinstein who some women claimed had enabled Mr. Weinstein’s alleged abuse. It also resolves a suit filed by the New York attorney general that accused his former studio’s executives and board of failing to protect women from his alleged misconduct.
Under the terms of the deal, about $6 million will go to women who have filed lawsuits and legal claims and their attorneys, the people said. An additional $18.6 million will be set aside to create a settlement fund for additional alleged victims, including those covered by the attorney general’s suit, they said.
About $7 million will go to some creditors of the film studio. About $12 million will cover the costs of lawyers who defended Mr. Weinstein’s former associates against the suits.
The tentative deal was reported earlier by the New York Times.
A spokeswoman for the New York attorney general and a spokesman for Mr. Weinstein declined to comment.
Elizabeth Fegan, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the proposed class-action suit, said because the settlement wasn’t final she couldn’t discuss specifics. “We’ve fought to forge a meaningful settlement against strong headwinds,” Ms. Fegan said in a statement. “And no matter what amount of money the survivors ultimately receive, the civil settlement will do little to reverse the damage Weinstein caused to so many.”
Of the total settlement, $1 million will fund Mr. Weinstein’s defense costs to fight the lawsuits against two alleged victims who aren’t participating in the settlement, the people said.
Lawyers for those women have portrayed the settlement as unfair. Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for one of those women, said in a statement that he didn’t believe the deal was the best possible settlement. “It is shameful that $12 million of the settlement is going to the lawyers for the directors who we alleged enabled Harvey Weinstein,” he said.
Thomas Giuffra, a lawyer for the second woman who rejected the deal, objected to settlement funds paying the legal bills of Mr. Weinstein’s former associates.
“Victims will receive only a small fraction of what the settlement was expected to yield,” he said.