Amazon Studios head Roy Price steps down amid sexual harassment allegations
Less than a week after being suspended from his gig as the head of Amazon Studios, Roy Price has officially stepped down from his role, TechCrunch has learned. The resignation came after producer Isa Hackett told The Hollywood Reporter that she was subject to “shocking and surreal” sexual harassment by Price.
CNN’s Brian Stelter reported the news on Twitter, which an Amazon spokesperson has since confirmed with TechCrunch.
Hackett, who produced “The Man in the High Castle” for Amazon (and is also the daughter of writer Philip K. Dick, whose work inspired the series), says Price “repeatedly and insistently propositioned her” in the back of a cab, according to the report. Price reportedly told the producer, “You will love my dick.”
After being rebuked by Hackett, Price then reportedly exclaimed “anal sex!” in her ear as she spoke with fellow executives at an Amazon party the same night. The allegations arrived in the wake of widespread reports of longstanding sexual misconduct by Hollywood power producer, Harvey Weinstein, who reportedly had a close relationship with Price.
Soon after initial reports about Weinstein surfaced, actress Rose McGowan called out Amazon chief Jeff Bezos on Twitter, noting Price’s failure to acknowledge her allegations of predatory behavior by Weinstein. “I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers,” she said at the beginning of a thread. “I love Amazon but there is rot in Hollywood.” Weinstein was set to produce an unnamed project for Amazon.
Deadline noted last week that Price was essentially dead in the water at Amazon as the company had already begun a search to fill in his role prior to these latest allegations.
These latest allegations only begin to scratch the surface of widespread sexual misconduct in Hollywood. It’s a sea change that reflects a similar recent movement in Silicon Valley, and one that has inspired women everywhere to acknowledge their own stories on social media.
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