Cannes amfAR Gala Struggles to Escape Harvey Weinstein Shadow

This year marks the Foundation for AIDS Research’s 25th anniversary, but the mood is far from celebratory heading into the May 17 fundraising gala at the Cannes Film Festival.

The gala is still reeling from its close association with Harvey Weinstein, whose Hollywood star has fallen in the wake of the accusations of sexual misconduct and rape by numerous women.

“The unfortunate reality facing amfAR is that the disgraced mogul had become the most visible and important force behind the annual black-tie affair, corralling stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman and Jessica Chastain and summoning the glamour, with wife Georgina Chapman — the fashion designer who dressed many of the attending high-wattage celebrities — at his side,” writes The Hollywood Reporter‘s Tatiana Siegel. “But in addition to the damage wrought by his high-profile sexual misdeeds, a more behind-the-scenes scandal has roiled amfAR for months: A highly suspect deal struck by Weinstein allegedly allowed the film producer to profit from fundraising proceeds, including those generated by the Cannes gala, and led to the Feb. 8 ouster of the group’s chairman, shoe designer Kenneth Cole.”

That scandal involved Weinstein’s funneling of donations from the 2015 amfAR Cannes event to the Boston-based theater that workshopped the producer’s Broadway-bound play Finding Neverland. It spurred an investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and led to the ouster of the group’s chairman, shoe designer Kenneth Cole.

But the organization is doing its best to switch the focus, going with an all-female group of chairs led by Heidi Klum and Milla Jovovich.

“I used to hear people say things like, ‘The Cannes Film Festival was Harvey’s festival,’”AmfAR CEO Kevin Frost tells THR. “And I think that’s largely a reflection of the fact that he was so good at manipulating the media around the films he wanted to promote. But I think people are going to be very pleasantly surprised at what will continue to be the most glamorous, most-sought-after ticket of the entire festival. Without him.”