Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment for a 2013 r*pe case. He has also faced countless charges for multiple related crimes ever since his Hollywood Mogul image was busted back in 2017. Not only has this unearthed the true reality of the film industry but has also made the majority of the film industry label him as a ‘cruel predator’ and other similar nicknames.
However, this is not the only infamous nickname he has carried over the years. In his years as an acclaimed producer, Weinstein was referred to as ‘Scissorhands’ for allegedly making multiple brutal cuts from finished work. Despite once being threatened by the acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the now-disregarded producer once defended his alleged nickname.
Harvey Weinstein Once Defended His Infamous ‘Scissorhands’ Nickname
Harvey Weinstein was once an acclaimed producer, known for propelling innumerable actors and actresses to stardom. Recipient of multiple accolades, he was once a pioneer in the world of cinema, credited for being a visionary. Even with such high praise and awards, he had a reputation for being hard to work with, being controlling, and allegedly making brutal cuts in director’s works despite their protests.
His ‘control freak’ nature led to his infamous nickname ‘Harvey Scissorhands’ by many of his contemporaries. Despite receiving huge criticism, the producer remained unbothered and even defended his nickname once in an interview with The New Yorker.
“I’m not cutting for fun. I’m cutting for the sh*t to work. All my life I served one master: the film. I love movies.”
While it is no secret that many of his movies have been declared worthy of critical praise, there is no way to know if their outcome would have been otherwise had he not made those cuts. One such example is Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, for which the creator Hayao Miyazaki allegedly threatened him with a sword.
Hayao Miyazaki Once Threatened Harvey Weinstein With A Sword
Back in 1996, Disney brokered a deal with Studio Ghibli to release their movies’s English-dubbed versions, and one of them ended up under Weinstein’s company Miramax. Weinstein then demanded Hayao Miyazaki cut Princess Mononoke to 90 minutes from 135 minutes (Far Out Magazine). Miyazaki refused and instead sent a Japanese Samurai sword with the message ‘no cuts’.
However, Miyazaki later revealed that it was actually his producer who sent the ‘present’ (via The Guardian). Weinstein remained persistent as was revealed by one of Studio Ghibli’s former employees Steve Alpert in his memoir. He claimed that when Miyazaki refused to cut the movie, the disgraced producer allegedly screamed (as per Far Out Magazine),
“If you don’t get him to cut the f**king film you will NEVER WORK IN THIS F**KING INDUSTRY AGAIN! DO YOU F**KING UNDERSTAND ME?!! NEVER!!”
However, Miyazaki remained firm since he had the right to the film and Weinstein was forced to yield.
Princess Mononoke can be streamed on HBO Max.
Source: Far Out Magazine, The New Yorker, The Guardian
