Andy DehnartNBC Universal, The Weinstein Company, and Lifetime have resolved their dispute over Project Runway 6, which will move to Lifetime following payment to NBC Universal, unless this is some kind of April Fool’s Day joke.
In a statement, NBC Universal said “The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime,” and says all three companies “have resolved their disputes” and “All of the parties are pleased with the outcome.”
The most unbelievable part of the statement is the quote from Harvey Weinstein, who says, “I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner. We look forward to working together on our ongoing projects.” That’s the same guy who said in court, “I’d rather cut off my arm than give them a right of first refusal.”
No word yet from Lifetime when the season might air (it’s already completed production) or what they’ll do now with a franchise that has seen its best years.
Update: Lifetime just released a statement from its president Andrea Wong saying the show will debut in the summer: “I couldn’t be more excited that Lifetime will bring its viewers an amazing, all-new season of Project Runway this summer. … All of us at Lifetime are thrilled to move forward with Heidi, Tim, Nina, Michael, The Weinstein Company and the entire Project Runway team.”