Taylor Sheridan wanted to scrub off every single fiber of Harvey Weinstein and his company from the 2017 neo-Western crime thriller film Wind River. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Kelsey Asbille, and Graham Greene, the movie depicts the abuse of Indigenous women on reservations.
The filmmaker and his team felt betrayed after finding out about Harvey Weinstein’s accusations of abuse and assault. The disgraced mogul was the head of the movie’s main distributor, The Weinstein Company.
Taylor Sheridan Won’t Let Harvey Weinstein Profit From Wind River
In a panel interview via Deadline, director Taylor Sheridan discussed the deal he made with The Weinstein Company after discovering the horrific crimes committed by Harvey Weinstein.
“I called TWC president David Glasser and said, ‘I’m going to demand something of you, and you are going to get absolutely nothing in return, and you’re going to do it because it’s the right thing to do.’ To David’s credits, he agreed.”
Sheridan wanted to make things right, and because he also felt bad that Weinstein’s company was helping his movie earn profit, he might as well use the income to help victims.
“[Weinstein] did terrible things, and they affected a lot of people, and they affected our film. And now, the profits he would have made are going to benefit people that endured exactly the abuse that he doled out.”
The filmmaker was not afraid to see his movie get ripped by the public, though he wanted to do it himself. He wanted to make sure first that the convicted abuser wouldn’t profit from the project. If the company refuses to cooperate, he will ensure the movie will end up a flop.
“I said, if my movie’s going to die, I’ll be the one to kill it. I will Alan Smithee the film, take my name off it, and publicly denounce it. I would have said, don’t go see this movie, don’t rent it, don’t watch it. If he was going to remain publicly attached, if he was going to benefit from a film highlighting the atrocity he perpetrated? No.”
Sheridan assured that all of the revenues from streaming platforms and DVD sales due to Weinstein will be going to the Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. TWC knew that declining the director’s demands would mean a major income loss for them.
Taylor Sheridan Reacts To Harvey Weinstein’s S*xual Abuse Cases
In the same conversation with Deadline, Sheridan reiterated that s*xual assault should not be tolerated. As they discuss the rampant cases of abuse in the industry, he remarked that offenders should be reprimanded.
“S*xual assault is an entirely different thing. That is not a s*x act; it is an act of violence. That distinction needs to be clear. Neither one is acceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated in the workplace in any way, but one is criminal and people should go to prison.”
Wind River was highly praised by critics and well-loved by fans. It has an impressive 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also earned $44.9 million at the box office against a production budget of $11 million.
Wind River is available to stream via Netflix.
