Harvey Weinstein
Harvey WeinsteinReuters

Black Cube, an Israeli intelligence firm which reportedly helped Harvey Weinstein gather information on women accusing him of sexual harassment and assault, on Thursday apologized for agreeing to work with the Hollywood producer, Reuters reported, citing a company official.

The New Yorker reported earlier this week that Weinstein had hired Black Cube, which markets itself as a group of ex-members of Israeli intelligence units specializing in business and litigation challenges, to help stop the publication of abuse allegations against him.

A subsequent report said that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was the one who connected Weinstein with Black Cube. Barak said, however, that he did not know what Weinstein wanted to hire the agency to investigate.

“Of course we apologize to whoever was hurt by this,” Asher Tishler, a member of Black Cube’s advisory board, was quoted as having said Thursday during a TV interview on Israel’s The News (former Channel 2 News).

“In retrospect, it’s a shame we took the job,” added Tishler, who said he was not familiar with all the details of the work Black Cube carried out for Weinstein.

“I think the job was taken in a justified manner. When it was discovered there was a problem, they stopped,” he continued, adding that any money the company made would be given to women’s groups.