Harvey Weinstein 'sorry' for Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence quotes

Harvey Weinstein has apologised after his lawyers used quotes by Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence in legal submissions.

The disgraced mogul's representatives used favourable comments from the pair in an attempt to get a class action lawsuit dismissed.

Lawrence hit back at the producer, who has been accused of sexual harassment by numerous women, calling him a "predator".

The lawsuit accuses Weinstein of conspiring to conceal his widespread alleged sexual harassment.

The legal action by six women also targets what it calls the "Weinstein Sexual Enterprise", which includes his brother Bob and the studio they co-founded The Weinstein Company.

A spokesman for Weinstein said: "Mr Weinstein has been informed that his civil counsel responded in court to a class action lawsuit which improperly sought to include all actresses who had previously worked with Mr Weinstein, even where those actresses have made no claim of wrongdoing.

"Even though Mr Weinstein has worked with hundreds of actresses and actors who had only professional and mutually respectful experiences with him, Mr Weinstein has directed in the future that no specific names be used by his counsel, even where those actors have made previous public statements about him.

"Mr Weinstein acknowledges the valuable input both Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence have contributed to this conversation and apologises.

"Once again, moving forward, Mr Weinstein has advised his counsel to not include specific names of former associates; and to avoid whenever possible, even if they are in the public record."

The lawyers for Weinstein included a comment Lawrence made in an interview that the disgraced movie mogul "had only ever been nice to me", but failed to mention that she later added: "Except for the moments that he wasn't, and then I called him an asshole."

In a statement, Lawrence said: "Harvey Weinstein and his company are continuing to do what they have always done which is to take things out of context and use them for their own benefit.

"This is what predators do, and it must stop."

She added: "For the record, while I was not victimised personally by Harvey Weinstein, I stand behind the women who have survived his terrible abuse and I applaud them in using all means necessary to bring him to justice whether through criminal or civil actions. Time's up."

Her comment follows Streep hitting back at Weinstein, who said the action was "pathetic and exploitative" after his lawyers referred to her saying she was never harassed by the producer in an attempt to shut the case down.

While the lawyers did not go as far as to say Streep's comment was evidence he was not abusive to others, they claimed the case should be thrown out because it was "fatally overbroad" as it could include all women he has ever met.

Lawyers Phyllis Kupferstein and Mary E Flynn pointed to Streep saying Weinstein had always been respectful with her during their collaborations in a statement to the press.

But they did not mention that Streep also praised the "heroes" who made allegations about his behaviour, which she said was "inexcusable" and an "abuse of power".

Weinstein, 65, denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.