Amazon Studios chief Roy Price resigns over Harvey Weinstein claims

The head of Amazon Studios, Roy Price, has resigned from the streaming company he started following claims he had dismissed the allegations that Harvey Weinstein had raped the actor Rose McGowan.

He said on Twitter that McGowan claimed she told Price about the alleged rape but had been told it "hadn't been proven".

McGowan added that Amazon Studios "called to say my show was dead" after she asked it "to do the right thing" over a tie-up with The Weinstein Company.

In a separate incident, Price had been put on a leave of absence last week on 12 October, following claims that he had sexually harassed an Amazon TV producer.

The Hollywood Reporter said he had made lewd comments towards the producer of the Man in the High Castle producer Isa Hackett and propositioned her.

Hackett told the publication that Price propositioned her on the way to, and during, an Amazon party at Comic-Con in San Diego in 2015 and that she had made clear to Price she was not interested and she was a lesbian with a wife and children.

Earlier, Amazon's senior vice-president of business development, Jeff Blackburn, sent a memo to employees that the company did not tolerate harassment.

The statement, seen by the Press Association, read: "The news coming out of Hollywood over the past week has been shocking and disturbing – and unfortunately we are a part of it. It's sad and very disappointing to me. Amazon does not tolerate harassment or abuse of our employees or our business partners."

Price had been at the helm of Amazon Studios since September 2014 during which it became the first streaming platform to get a Golden Globe, for the film Transport, and it won at the Oscars for Manchester by the Sea.

Weinstein resigned from the board of The Weinstein Company with a number of women - including Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne and Ashley Judd - accusing him of sexual harassment. He denies any "non consensual" relationships.