Film academy president accused of sexual harassment

Months into the reckoning of Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the group behind the Oscars) is looking into its own leadership.

John Bailey, who was elected president of the organization last year, is being investigated for sexual harassment, reports Variety.

The Academy started looking into Bailey after receiving three claims against him. The exact nature of the allegations remains unclear, and the victims' names are being kept under wraps.

Bailey responded to the accusations for the first time on Saturday, March 24, several weeks after they first surfaced (h/t The Hollywood Reporter). In a memo sent to the Academy, he said the allegations are untrue and pointed out that, among the complaints submitted, only one had a name attached to it.

Bailey also bemoaned the fact that he's had to defend himself publicly, taking the Academy's process to task. "The fact that the existence of an allegation even became public thwarts the confidential review process that the Academy adopted and is supposed to follow when receiving complaints," he wrote.

Bailey was elected into the position last August, succeeding Cheryl Boone Isaacs. He's happened to preside over a challenging time in the industry: In October, the New Yorker and the New York Times published their exposés of Harvey Weinstein, igniting a firestorm that would eventually evolve into the #MeToo movement.

Just days after those stories hit the press, the Academy voted to kick out Weinstein – which raised awkward questions about what the organization planned to do about all the other accused predators in its midst.

In the months since then, the Academy has also unveiled a new code of conduct and a new claims process.

There's no doubt that Weinstein's downfall, and everything that followed, has marked a major change for Hollywood. (How strong the impact is, and how long it lasts, is another question that remains to be answered.) Women and men within the industry have come forward in unprecedented numbers to speak about the abuses they've endured.

Meanwhile, men – and they were mostly men – whose bad behavior had previously been shrugged off or swept under the rug found themselves under renewed scrutiny.

Should Bailey, a 75-year-old cinematographer whose credits include Groundhog Day, be ousted from his post, he'll be replaced by his vice president, makeup artist Lois Burwell, until the Academy holds its next election in July.

UPDATED March 25, 2018, 5:08 p.m. ET with Bailey's response to the allegations.