NBC Universal was quickly in court after the Weinstein Company announced a deal to move “Project Runway” to Lifetime this fall. NBCU claims it has a right to match any other offer and keep the cable hit on its own Bravo network.
“I am a huge fan. All my friends are huge fans,” declared Lifetime Networks CEO Andrea Wong as she announced the deal whereby season six of the show is set to debut in November on Lifetime, just after Bravo squeezes in season five this summer. The five-year deal is said to be worth around 150 million bucks.
But as soon as the announcement was made, NBCU was in court suing the Weinstein Company, charging that Harvey Weinstein cut the deal with Lifetime on February 7th, even though he continued “sham negotiations” with NBCU for two more months. NBCU claims that it has a right of first refusal to keep Project Runway, as well as to air any spin-off.
The Weinstein Company has lined up super-star legal talent to defend itself. Famed litigator David Boies declared that the NBCU lawsuit was without merit as he prepared to fight for Weinstein’s right to take the show to Lifetime.
