Harvey Weinstein at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015 / Photo: AMPAS
Just when things couldn’t look any worse for The Weinstein Company, the New Yorker dropped a story Tuesday that detailed rape accusations against just-ousted co-CEO Harvey Weinstein — to go along with days of reports detailing sexual harassment and settlements.
Weinstein’s scandal threatens to pull down the company he co-founded. Unless.
“If they make Harvey the bad guy and they kill him like Darth Vader, like what they’re doing right now, all these guys will be fine,” Ross Gerber, the president and CEO of wealth management firm Gerber Kawasaki told TheWrap.
The New Yorker article, written by Ronan Farrow, implicated longtime executives at TWC and Weinstein’s previous company, Miramax, for failing to stop “a pattern of professional meetings that were little more than thin pretexts for sexual advances on young actresses and models.” Farrow wrote that the practice “was widely known” within the companies, and happened at places of business.
“Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at Weinstein’s companies told me that they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at events associated with Weinstein’s films and in the workplace,” Farrow wrote.
Gerber, who criticized “a culture in media and entertainment” that is permissive of sex and drugs at work, said Weinstein execs will land on their feet — if they can tie all the company’s baggage to Weinstein himself.
Gerber, who told TheWrap previously that there’s no real company without Harvey, also expects TWC to look to sell off its assets, like its long for-sale TV business, even faster now.
“The Weinstein Company’s done,” Gerber said. “It accelerates liquidation now.”
Gerber and Lloyd Greif, the president and CEO of investment bank Greif & Co., told TheWrap earlier this week that they expect the company to dump its assets, such as its profitable television business, which produces Lifetime hit show “Project Runway.”
Greif said TWC has likely engaged an investment banker to evaluate sale possibilities — which Gerber said is even more timely now, given the New Yorker story and more big names coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.
TWC might want to get the best price it can now, or risk opportunistic investors waiting for additional shoes to drop. Harvey and his brother Bob own about 42 percent of the company.
TWC has had its TV business on the block for years, nearly selling it for $950 million to British broadcaster ITV in 2015. Gerber said it would be in the best interest of the company to get something for it now.
“It has to be done ASAP,” Gerber said. “It involves the shareholders, particularly Harvey and Bob, being willing to sell at a price that probably, in their mind, sucks.”
He estimated the company could fetch about $1.5 billion, which would be more than enough to pay off its debts and make investors whole.
“If they’re smart, what they do is say ‘I’m out and I get 42 percent of whatever’s left,'” Gerber said of the Weinstein brothers. “And they’re rich.”
A Short History of Harvey Weinstein's Oscar Campaigns (Photos)
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
Harvey Weinstein first got into the Oscar race in a big way in 1990 with a "guerilla" campaign for the art-house drama "My Left Foot" by setting up meet-and-greets between Academy members and film talent. The result? Oscar wins for stars Daniel Day Lewis and Brenda Fricker.
Miramax snagged its first Best Picture victory for 1996's "The English Patient" -- which earned a total of nine awards, including for director Anthony Minghella and lead actress Juliette Binoche.
Weinstein built an awareness campaign for the then-unknown Billy Bob Thornton for 1996's "Sling Blade" -- which yielded an Oscar for his adapted screenplay and a nomination for Best Actor.
Miramax pulled off a double coup with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," delivering Robin Williams his long-awaited first Oscar and a rare screenplay prize for two twentysomething newbies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
One year later, Miramax pulled out all the stops after landing two Best Picture nominations, including for the Italian-language drama "Life Is Beautiful." According to Peter Biskind's book "Down and Dirty Pictures," star-auteur Roberto Begnini "moved into L.A. for a month during the peak of the voting period." The film came away with three Oscars, including Best Actor.
That year, Miramax pulled off a bigger upset when "Shakespeare in Love" seized Best Picture over Steven Spielberg's heavily favored "Saving Private Ryan." "Shakespeare" won a total of seven Academy Awards, including for actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Judi Dench.
Miramax surprised many by landing yet another Best Picture nomination for the 2000 Juliette Binoche-Johnny Depp bonbon "Chocolat."
In 2003, the Weinsteins had a hand in four of the five Best Picture nominees: "Chicago," "The Hours," "Gangs of New York" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (on which they had producer credits). "Chicago" won the top prize -- as well as five others.
In 2004, Miramax took advantage of a careful reading of Academy rules and scored four nominations for the Brazilian inner-city drama "City of God" -- even though the film had failed to land a Best Foreign Language film nomination the previous year.
The Weinsteins exited Disney-owned Miramax and founded their own company in 2005 -- and got right back in the Oscar race with two nominations for one of their first releases, the Felicity Huffman vehicle "Transamerica."
By 2009, The Weinstein Company landed its first Best Picture contender with "The Reader" -- and also snagged Kate Winslet her first Oscar as Best Actress in a role that many thought was more of a supporting part.
Two years later, TWC scored its first Best Picture win for "The King's Speech" -- as well as three other awards, including Best Actor for Colin Firth.
The following year, Weinstein pulled off another coup: landing five Oscars, including Best Picture for the mostly silent, black-and-white ode to Old Hollywood, "The Artist."
In 2013, TWC again had two horses in the Best Picture race: Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and "Silver Linings Playbook" -- which landed Jennifer Lawrence the prize for Best Actress.
Last year, Weinstein successfully landed six nominations -- including Best Picture -- for Garth Davis' tear-jerker "Lion." But just as Open Road won the top prize in 2016 for "Spotlight," another upstart, A24, used a lot of Harvey touches to score the indie "Moonlight" a Best Picture win.
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This is the first Oscar season in decades without the disgraced mogul who challenged the major studios and changed the game at the Academy
Indie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was fired last October from his position of co-CEO of The Weinstein Company, revolutionized the Oscar race both at TWC and his previous company, Miramax.
