“I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner.”
— Producer Harvey Weinstein in a statement Wednesday, ending a six-month battle over Project Runway. Weinstein admits he erred in moving the show from Bravo–owned by General Electric’s NBC Universal–to Lifetime without giving NBCU a shot to keep it. Lifetime reportedly paid $150 million for a five-year deal.
Paying homage to NBCU boss Zucker is just one price Weinstein agreed to. He’s also paying NBCU a fee to switch channels for Project Runway. And Weinstein and Lifetime agreed not to air new episodes until after The Fashion Show, new on Bravo, launches May 7. Just one question: Do we really need more emotionally fragile fashion designers duking it out on television? –Jessica Shambora