Legalist — a San Francisco-based startup that leverages artificial intelligence to help clients’ get financing for lawsuits — is looking to fund anyone with claims against Harvey Weinstein, the company announced on Tuesday.
A $100,000 litigation “bounty” is being offered to anyone with a “valid sexual harassment claim” against the tarnished Hollywood heavyweight, in light of dozens of sexual misconduct claims.
“Justice should be reached in court, not paid off in secret,” said Legalist co-founder and CEO Eva Shang, in a statement. “Justice for sexual harassment survivors has been delayed too long due to the power imbalance between men and women, and has allowed someone like Weinstein to get away with three decades of sexual harassment without facing public consequences.”
The company said claims can be filed at legalist.com/weinstein.
While Peter Thiel gave Legalist a $100,00 grant, a company spokesperson told TheWrap he did not have any input on its decision to move forward with its new Weinstein initiative.
Two bombshell reports from The New York Times and The New Yorker detailed decades of sexual misconduct from the former Miramax and The Weinstein Company exec.
In the days after, top stars like Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltrow have called out Weinstein for a range of violations. Actress Rose McGowan received a $100,000 settlement in 1997 from Weinstein and has recently tweeted he “raped me.” Weinstein has since been booted from his company.
In its statement announcing the funding, Legalist said it “is taking a stand to encourage survivors of sexual harassment from all industries to speak out an pursue justice on behalf of themselves and other victims.”