To the surprise of no one, Lin-Manuel Miranda does not want any of his work associated with the Weinstein company. Amid the growing Harvey Weinstein scandal, Lin-Manuel-Miranda and playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes are calling on The Weinstein Co. to let them take the film adaptation of their Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights to another studio. Playwright Alegria Hudes stated,
“In the Heights is part of my heart and soul. I created it with respect, community and solidarity. I hope The Weinstein Co. has enough grace, in the wake of these revelations, to respect my stand as a woman, and to allow us to extricate In the Heights from them. In the Heights deserves a fresh start in a studio where I’ll feel safe (as will my actors and collaborators),”
“As a woman, I can no longer do business with The Weinstein Company. To those women who suffered directly at Harvey’s hands, I extend my sincerest compassion and support,” “Harvey Weinstein’s sexual predation is despicable enough, but combined with his staggering power, it’s insidious, even devilish. Decades. He thrived on this. He built an empire on this. It’s been hard for me to sleep at night. My stomach is in knots.”
Miranda also weighed in on his Twitter feed, writing,
“As usual, Quiara does the prose best. She speaks for us both.”
The request to be released from their contracts comes as TWC co-chairman Bob Weinstein, Harvey’s brother, and president/COO David Glasser are considering a name change of their company and have granted permission to multiple TV networks to remove the disgraced executive’s name from credits. Elsewhere, Apple ditched plans for a four-show deal with TWC that included scripted miniseries about Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Prince and Frank Sinatra, while Amazon Studios is reviewing its options regarding two high-profile TWC series, The Romanoffs and an untitled drama from David O. Russell.
