Amid his legal and health battles, disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein is coming after baby brother Bob.
Once upon a time in Hollywood, the Weinsteins ruled. They bought what they wanted, bullied who they chose and far, far worse. As older brother Harvey Weinstein awaits a retrial of his 2020 rape conviction, he’s now suing Bob.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harvey Weinstein was coerced into supporting a $45 million loan for the studio, only to later find out that the money was being used by Bob and another high-up executive at The Weinstein Company for personal businesses and lucrative bonuses.
As per Weinstein’s attorney, “As he claims in his complaint, Harvey Weinstein was deceived by those closest to him, and secured a $45 million dollar loan under the pretense of saving The Weinstein Company. While Harvey personally guaranteed the loan, others within The Weinstein Company enriched themselves and strategically undermined him, leaving him ‘holding the bag’ of debt while ‘lining their pockets’ when the company was in crisis.”
Harvey Weinstin has been trying to play the victim ever since he felt he became one: there’s an illness here, an excuse there. Whatever it is, Weinstein – who will turn 73 next month – always seems to be playing up his age and fragility, most of which people are finding hard to either believe or evoke sympathy over.
Over the course of its history, Miramax – which served as the predecessor to The Weinstein Company, formed in 2005 – garnered more than 275 Academy Award nominations and won nearly 70, with Harvey Weinstein himself winning for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love, widely considered to be a prime example of how he would throw as much money and weight behind an Oscar campaign. Remember, it beat Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.
This particular lawsuit has a lengthy history, going back to even before The Weinstein Company declared bankruptcy in 2018. While the collapse of the studio has been widely blamed on Harvey Weinstein’s criminal behavior, the producer maintains it has more to do with the shady funds, which he was left to deal with in the aftermath. After some delays, we’ll hopefully find out more about the case and just what it means for the Brothers Weinstein.
