Harvey Weinstein is a name that is currently everywhere right now, thanks to the myriad sexual harassment stories that have been popping up in many corners of the Internet. However, Harvey Weinstein is also a name that you will see less and less frequently in the coming months, as The Weinstein Company is going out of its way to distance itself from the popular producer. This includes scrubbing Weinstein's name from upcoming credits, but more importantly, it looks as if the company will likely look to rebrand completely in the wake of the recent scandal.
News broke this week that The Weinstein Company has made the decision to pull Harvey Weinstein's name off of TV projects in the future. As an extension of that, his name is expected to be taken off of any future movies that he worked on moving forward, although that process may be a bit more difficult, as Weinstein worked a lot harder on those movie projects than he did on Weinstein TV series and may attempt to make a fuss out of those changes. According to Deadline, the company has already started making calls to make sure that Harvey Weinstein is not likened to the company in the near future. Regardless, it doesn't look as if The Weinstein Company will stop at pulling all memory of Harvey Weinstein from its projects. The company has also been cited as working with ad agencies to come up with a new overall name and branding strategy.
If you've been keeping tabs on the Harvey Weinstein scandal at all, you may know that several women have accused Mr. Weinstein of some unprofessional acts, including allegedly asking colleagues repeatedly for massages, reportedly trying to hook up with actresses like Ashley Judd on the sets of movies, and even one weird incident where he reportedly masturbated into a potted plant in front of a reporter. After multiple incidents came to light, Weinstein was fired from his position as a producer at The Weinstein Company. Regardless, since the company is named after Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob Weinstein--the current head of the company--it makes sense that due to the actions of one brother the company could attempt to try to go into a brand new direction.
It takes years to build a brand, and a company generally needs a catchy name along with a good work ethic to make a name for itself in any business. Choosing to go in a totally new direction with branding is certainly not the easiest choice to make, but doubtless the name Weinstein is tarnished in the movie-making world right now. If the company changes names, it's likely the best path The Weinstein Company sees moving forward.
Which leaves the question: What could that new name be? We'll let you know as soon as we find out.
