What is the idiom about those who fly too close to the sun? For Harvey Weinstein, the "sun" in this analogy would be the apex of Hollywood success, the bright shining stardom that the producer and his brother Bob found themselves in the middle of for the last two decades. But lately Harvey has lost his shine: First, MGM dumped all of the movies they were planning on promoting for the brothers back onto Weinstein's lap, then there was the injunction to keep Weinstein from moving Project Runway to Lifetime. And now, Weinstein is paying one million dollars to charity in penance for lying to the New York Post about the producer's relationship with the late Sydney Pollack during the last days of the actor/director's life.
Yeesh, not a good day to be Harvey:
The Weinstein Company honcho swore up and down to us the other day that an e-mail written by producer Scott Rudin - claiming Weinstein ghoulishly badgered cancer-stricken Oscar-winner Sydney Pollack…to rush him to finish the romantic drama "The Reader" - was a complete fake.
Ah! But then the plot thickens as Nikki Finke over at DeadlineHollywood, where the e-mail from Rubin originated, provided evidence to NY Post that it was indeed Harvey's producer that made the inflammatory statements. In the face of the evidence, Rubin admits he did write the e-mail, but was pressured by Weinstein Co. to deny it:
Weinstein's rep says that once he's verified the authenticity of the Rudin e-mail, he will donate $1 million to the Robin Hood Foundation. Weinstein issued a statement: "There's been enough back and forth on this subject. I have nothing but a tremendous amount of respect for Scott Rudin and it's time to move on. This is my final statement on this matter."
Welp. Sometimes throwing money at a problem does fix it, although in Harvey's case he will have to save a lot of starving African babies before he gets back into the Page Six's good graces. And not for nothing, but it is saying a lot when you have to apologize for lying to a publication that once employeed Jared Paul Stern.
Editorial Director
First of all, why move that "Runway" show to Lifetime at the height of its popularity? What sense does that make? It makes no sense–it's a stupid move. Second, why did the Weinsteins ever leave the company that they founded, Miramax, in the hands of Disney, which is destroying that once-fine house like everything else it is destroying. That was a stupid move. Third, why on earth would you badger a dying man about a movie? That's just ghoulish–if it really occurred. Fourth, they should slow down. The industry, aside from summer seasons, is in a flat-line status, and no production house should be cranking out more than 10 to 12 films a year right now–really. Any more, at a huge cost per film, and you're just gambling. The Weinsteins had a great run recently, with the "Lord" films and several other big Best Picture films, so they should be playing it safe, producing small, low-budget prestige films, and not gambling with moving hit television shows, not gambling with big-budget messes, and not badgering film directors on their deathbeds (if that's true). They should be sitting back, playing it safe, and investing their money wisely.