An “unspoken rule” at Variety magazine was that they did not run stories critical of Harvey Weinstein or his company, Miramax. Peter Bart, the editor-in-chief, has been described as one of Weinstein's greatest protectors, which helped keep his “open secret” under wraps for years. In 1997, Miramax purchased about 40 percent of Oscar ads in Variety's weekly edition.
From HuffPost:
Read Full Article »Bart let Weinstein and other favorite sources “vet stories that mentioned them, letting them make adjustments,” according to Los Angeles Magazine. The relationship was so cozy that Weinstein requested Bart's presence at a Variety interview even though Bart wasn't the one conducting it. One day before the New Yorker posted its investigation into Weinstein's transgressions, former Variety columnist Anne Thompson detailed the odd arrangement in a column.
“When I went to Cannes as a Variety columnist and tried to set up a feature interview with Harvey on the Weinsteins' slate, he insisted that Variety editor Peter Bart and his lieutenant Tim [Gray] be present to make sure the publication took care of him,” she wrote.
The feeling was much the same on the Miramax side. One publicist who did work for Miramax told HuffPost that Bart “was very much in the court.” Bart was what was considered a “FOH,” or “Friend of Harvey,” the publicist said.
