Oscars chief ‘faces harassment allegations’

The head of the organisation behind the Oscars is facing several allegations of sexual harassment, Hollywood trade publications report, reports BBC.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety cite unnamed sources as saying three claims have been made against John Bailey.

Mr Bailey, a cinematographer, has led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since last year.The body approved a new code of conduct in December after a wave of harassment allegations shook the industry.

Mr Bailey, 75, has not yet commented on the reports.They first emerged in Variety magazine, which said the academy had received three harassment complaints against Mr Bailey on Wednesday and had immediately opened a review.

The academy has confirmed that a review is under way but did not say who was involved."The Membership Committee reviews all complaints brought against Academy members according to our Standards of Conduct process, and after completing reviews, reports to the Board of Governors," it said in a brief statement.

Mr Bailey's work includes the films American Gigolo, The Big Chill and Groundhog Day. He was awarded the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Two weeks ago he told the annual luncheon for Oscar nominees that what he called the "fossilised bedrock" of Hollywood's worst abuses was being "jack-hammered into oblivion".

He was elected as the academy's president for a four-year term in August 2017, shortly before the first high-profile allegations about Hollywood abuse emerged in US media.

The academy drew up a new code of conduct in response, warning its more than 8,000 members that it had "no place" for people "who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognised standards of decency".

Producer Harvey Weinstein was expelled from the organisation in October following sexual abuse allegations made against him.