Project Runway Season 6 Lawsuit: NBC, Weinstein, and the Injunction

The Project Runway season 6 lawsuit was a breach-of-contract fight filed by NBC Universal against the Weinstein Company in April 2008 after Weinstein sold the show to Lifetime for a reported $200 million over five years, cutting Bravo out of a right of first refusal NBC said it had been promised.¹² A New York judge sided with NBC, blocked the show from airing on Lifetime, and the case settled in April 2009 with the Weinstein Company paying NBC Universal several million dollars and acknowledging it had sold the show improperly.³

What NBC Said It Had Been Promised

The Weinstein Company owned Project Runway and had produced it for Bravo, part of NBC Universal, since 2004.² The lawsuit turned on a private meeting at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills on January 15, 2007. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker and NBC Entertainment co-chairman Marc Graboff sat down with Harvey Weinstein. No lawyers were in the room.⁴

Zucker and Graboff later testified that Weinstein agreed at that meeting to give NBC Universal a right of first refusal on the show, meaning Bravo could match any competing offer before Project Runway went elsewhere.⁵ Four days later, Graboff emailed representatives at the William Morris Agency laying out the terms, including that right. Graboff testified that agent Mark Itkin wrote back confirming Weinstein was in agreement.⁴

NBC’s complaint quoted Weinstein telling Zucker at the meeting: “You can only have in your life five true friends and I consider you one of my five friends. And I’m telling you, I will not embarrass you.”⁶

NBC Universal also alleged that the Weinstein Company had secretly finalized the Lifetime deal on February 7, 2008 and then conducted “sham negotiations” with NBC executives through February and March while the deal was already done. Lifetime publicly announced the acquisition on April 7, 2008, and NBC filed suit in Manhattan the same day.⁶⁷ The complaint additionally alleged that Weinstein had tried to leverage the show, threatening a move unless NBC bought television rights to a package of Weinstein Company films.⁵

Weinstein’s Denial

Weinstein denied that any right of first refusal existed. His attorney, David Boies, argued that nothing had been signed or formally documented, and that a right of first refusal is not enforceable without a written agreement setting out its terms, such as how much time NBC would have to match an offer. Weinstein testified: “There’s no such thing as first refusal without signing it.”⁴

The Weinstein Company filed counterclaims of its own, arguing that Bravo had tried to sabotage the value of the show during its final season on the network by moving its timeslot on short notice, running confusing promos, and withholding contestant information. Bravo countered that season five ended up being the show’s highest-rated cycle ever.⁸⁹¹¹⁰

The Injunction That Grounded Season Six

On September 26, 2008, New York State Supreme Court Judge Richard B. Lowe III granted NBC Universal a preliminary injunction. The order barred the Weinstein Company from promoting, marketing, or broadcasting Project Runway on Lifetime.¹¹ Judge Lowe found that NBC had shown a strong likelihood of winning on the merits, citing what he called “overwhelming evidence” that the Weinstein Company had violated the network’s right of first refusal. The court required NBC to post a $20 million bond and put the case on an expedited schedule so the show would not stay dark indefinitely.⁵ Injunctions of this kind are rare in entertainment disputes.

Filming went ahead anyway. Season six was shot in Los Angeles in the fall of 2008, and the runway finale was staged during New York Fashion Week in February 2009. Because the injunction was still in place and no airdate was set, the three finalists were kept out of sight backstage after their collections were shown; their identities could not be made public.¹²

How the Case Settled

On April 1, 2009, on the eve of a hearing on the Weinstein Company’s appeal of the injunction, NBC Universal, Lifetime, and the Weinstein Company settled all pending state and federal lawsuits.¹³⁹ The main terms:

The Weinstein Company paid NBC Universal a settlement in the “multiple millions,” which NBC said covered its legal fees. The Weinstein Company acknowledged it had “improperly sold the show to a competitive network without giving NBC a right to match the offer.”³
Lifetime agreed to hold the season six premiere until mid-August 2009, giving Bravo a window to launch its own competing series, The Fashion Show.¹⁴
Project Runway was cleared to air on Lifetime.⁹

Lifetime’s separate federal copyright challenge was never decided; it was folded into the settlement.⁹

What Happened to the Show After

Season six premiered on Lifetime on August 20, 2009, more than a year after filming. The debut drew 4.2 million viewers, setting a Lifetime record for a series premiere.¹⁵¹⁶

Project Runway stayed on Lifetime for a decade. What eventually ended that run was not a contract fight but the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein that surfaced in 2017. A+E Networks, Lifetime’s parent, terminated its contract with the Weinstein Company for the series.¹⁷ After the Weinstein Company filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, a bankruptcy court in May approved a bid by Bravo Media and Lantern Entertainment to acquire the show’s assets. Weinstein was stripped of his executive producer credit, and the show returned for its seventeenth season to Bravo, the very network NBC had gone to court to keep it on a decade earlier.¹⁸

1
Variety. Lifetime Files Runway Countersuit
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The New York Times. NBC Universal Files Suit Over Project Runway
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The New York Times. Project Runway Lawsuits Are Resolved
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MediaPost. NBC Universal Goes to Court With Designs on Keeping Project Runway
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Deadline. Judge Blocks Weinstein Co. From Taking Project Runway From Bravo to Lifetime
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LA Weekly. Project Jump Ship: Moguls Fight Fiercely Over Runway
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The New York Times. Lifetime Announces Acquisition of Project Runway; NBC Files Suit
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Next TV. Weinstein Claims Bravo Tried Sabotage Latest Project Runway Season
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Cravath. Lifetime Settles Project Runway Telecast Litigation
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Los Angeles Times. Project Runway Update
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The New York Times. Judge Blocks Project Runway Move to Lifetime
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ABC News. Project Runway Season 6 Production
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The Hollywood Reporter. NBC Uni, TWC Settle Runway Dispute
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The Hollywood Reporter. Project Runway Returning, Lawsuit Settled
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Technician Online. From NY to LA, Project Runway Still a Success
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Next TV. Project Runway Sets Lifetime Ratings Record
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Interview Magazine. Weinstein Company Bankruptcy: Project Runway Will Return to Bravo
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ET Online. Project Runway Returns to Bravo After 10 Years on Lifetime