Weinstein Books is shuttered
Hachette shuts down imprint after scandal allegations.
The fallout from the sexual harassment and assault allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein continued to spread throughout the entertainment industry Thursday, with Hachette Book Group announcing that it is shutting down the Weinstein Co.’s publishing imprint, Weinstein Books.
Books that are under contract will be published by the company’s Hachette Books imprint, and people working at Weinstein Books will join the Hachette imprint, according to Michael Pietsch, chief executive of Hachette Book Group.
The imprint, which was originally called Miramax Books, was founded in 2001 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. It relaunched in 2009 as part of Perseus Books, an independent publishing company that Hachette bought in 2016. The imprint typically publishes around 10 new titles a year.
Despite the Weinstein’s cachet in the entertainment industry, Weinstein Books never made much of a mark in the literary world. Most of its titles tend to be celebrity-driven memoirs and diet and wellness books. Over the years, the imprint has published books by some notable names including Larry King, and the Top Chef host and model Padma Lakshmi.
Hachette’s quick and decisive reaction to the scandal stands in contrast to the publishing industry’s reaction to sexual harassment allegations against the former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. Even after O’Reilly was fired by Fox, his publishing career has been largely unaffected: He released a new book in his best-selling “Killing” series last month, and promoted the book on television shows. Major book retailers like Barnes & Noble carried his latest work, “Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence,” and displayed it prominently. The book sold 65,000 hardcover copies in its first week on sale, according to NPD BookScan.
After explosive reports were published recently in The New York Times and The New Yorker detailing allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and assault against Weinstein, there were immediately signs that the Weinstein Co.’s imprint might be in trouble.
“Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski said that she would pull out of her three-book deal with Weinstein Books unless the company reckoned seriously with the allegations.
“I want to know that this company does not embrace sexual abusers, sexual harassers,” she said Monday on “Morning Joe.” “And I want to have a conversation with them before I move forward, because this is step one. Step two is having a wider conversation about the culture within an organization. That, of course, starts at the top.”