Though Paramount Network shows “Yellowstone” and “Waco” were initially developed as Weinstein TV projects, neither series will display Harvey Weinstein or The Weinstein Company’s names in their respective credits sequences, Kevin Kay said on Monday. After all, the disgraced producer was never involved in their respective creative processes, the Paramount executive explained.
Also, there are other good reasons a new network would want to distance itself from Weinstein following accusations of sexual harassment and assault against the producer.
“What happened there, what Harvey did, is disgusting and it’s disheartening,” Kay said. “We immediately said we don’t want any part of that, our talent doesn’t want any part of that, our creators don’t want any part of that. So that man will not be associated with our projects.”
Paramount and The Weinstein Company (TWC) do have a relationship, Kay continued, but it won’t be an active one until the latter has new leadership in place.
“There’s a lot of good people working at the Weinstein Company … they also should keep their jobs,” Kay said. “We’re hopeful that’s going to work its way out, but we’ll see as time goes on. If there’s a new company and we’re satisfied with where they’re going, that’s fine. Then, we’ll put that name on our shows. They certainly earned that, the people that work there.”
Dozens of sexual misconduct accusations have been leveled against Weinstein since an explosive exposé was published by the New York Times last October, which included several decades worth of women’s accounts of harassment and abuse at the hand of the producer.
Later that month, Weinstein was dismissed from his own company and kicked out of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The accusations posed against Weinstein also prompted the #MeToo movement and the start of more women in Hollywood coming forward with accusations against powerful men who they say abused or harassed them.
Kay also announced that Viacom’s SpikeTV is rebranding as The Paramount Network on Thursday.