Harvey Weinstein is not a sympathetic figure to say the least. Yes, he founded Miramax with his brother Bob and, together, they forever changed the world of independent film. But, otherwise, the rest of Harvey’s personal and professional behavior was demonstratively and ‘jury-found-him-guilty’ heinous.
But, Harvey is/was not the only soulless Weinstein. Bob too is/was a soulless sloth in his own way because we think he conspired with David Glasser (who is even slimier as the man who blazed a trail of lawsuits and accusations of financial impropriety at almost every career stop along the way) and possibly Len Blavatnik to strongarm Harvey into personally guaranteeing a loan for tens of millions of dollars (to allegedly keep the Weinstein Co. afloat) so they could leave him holding the bag for more than just money (in a vacuum). How did they pull it off? Why did they do it?
Let’s start with the ‘how’. Harvey’s lawsuit against his brother and others in February 2025 spelled it out pretty well. In 2016 (September 29th to be exact), the Weinstein Co. was not in good financial shape. Part of it had to do with the expensive settlements Harvey agreed to to address sexual assault and rape claims. To the rescue came the well-known billionaire/alleged Harvey Weinstein and Putin-friend–Len Blavatnik. He threw a lifeline worth $45million in the form of a loan. And for reasons only known by Harvey (we are guessing it was a non-negotiable term), Harvey agreed to personally guarantee the loan.
Not long after, in 2017, Harvey was forced to step down from the Weinstein Co and the Devil aka Blavatnik came to take Harvey’s soul. Bob and David supposedly settled out with Blavatnik for $15million of the $45million that ‘now came due b/c Harvey had stepped down’ loan and Harvey was stuck with the rest.
Which leads us to the possible ‘why’ of it all? It was about two things (and not just the money).
THING ONE: REVENGE. Len Blavatnik and Harvey Weinstein knew each other well on a personal and professional level. As a matter of fact, in 2010, Blavatnik entered into a new three-year film fund with the Weinstein Co. for a slate of movies with budgets betweeen $5 million to $20 million. Initially, Blavatnik put up $25 million into a revolving facility that might lead to putting up as much as $100 million (quoting the LA Times article). Some films did come out of the deal, but because Harvey loved to play fast and loose with accounting, one can only imagine how much money Len Blavatnik lost over the course of the deal. We’d be pissed off, also.
Flash forward to 2016 when the Weinstein Co. needed cash to stay afloat (and eventually put itself on the sales block). Blavatnik had given them the money thinking it would be the first in a series of steps towards acquiring the Weinstein Co …but, Harvey told the Board in 2017 that Blavatnik was not the answer. As one can imagine, you don’t fuck with a billionaire British/American citizen with strong ties to Putin who owns just about everything in the world. That person will squish you like the cockroach you are (to quote ‘Mr. Wonderful’ from the popular reality show Shark Tank)…and that’s what Blavatnik did. He eagerly gutted Harvey ‘the loan guarantor’ Weinstein like a shark’s belly to the tune of $30million, which ties into…
THING TWO: YELLOWSTONE (TV SHOW). On February 21st 2017 when Harvey pitched the Taylor Sheridan show to the new Paramount+ head Keith Cox, Keith flipped for it and ordered the show straight to series. The Weinstein Co. (Harvey, Bob and David Glasser) would finance a large chunk of the first season and get EP credit for the show.
And then magically, not long after Harvey was incarcerated, on Friday November 10th 2017, Len Blavatnik sued the Weinstein Co. for immediate repayment. This should have been the end of Harvey, Bob, and David’s involvement with Yellowstone. Right? Wrong!
Instead, silent Bob (not listed as an EP on the show) and loud David (listed as EP on the show) quietly settled out with Blavatnik for $15million(did they? are we sure?) and used the remaining monies (did Lavatnik know this would happen before the loan was made? He hated Harvey that much) to stay involved as creative and financial partners on the show.
AND THEN, lo and behold, in an announcement on January 22nd 2019, David Glasser proudly touted a new company named Studio 101 that had raised $300million for film and television production…and guess what was specifically mentioned in the announcement? $28.5million was already earmarked for the first season (and second) of Yellowstone which had started production in 2017. We bet a large chunk of that Yellowstone seed money came from Blavatnik’s $45million loan.
What other information backs up this theory? First, even after Harvey Weinstein was removed as a producer on Yellowstone, Paramount did not deny a financial relationship with the Weinstein Co. Keith Cox said as much in 2018 when Yellowstone was in production–“As many of you know our production partner on Yellowstone and Waco is the Weinstein Co. I want to say definitively that Harvey Weinstein has never been part of the creative process. Until a new name of the company is announced, Weinstein Co. will not be listed in the credits for either show.” That new company was Glasser’s company- Studio 101.
Tis true the only two people who can confirm this narrative are Bob and David…but, they would never confess to anything so diabolical unless they wanted to get squashed like the little cockroaches they are (by Blavatnik).
