Harvey Weinstein Appoints New Online Crisis Management Pr Team

Those who’ve, we helped with their online crisis are glad they don’t have the issues of media mogul Harvey Weinstein. The New Yorker recently unveiled a new team to shake up its communications department. The move could have come at a better time given the barrage of scandals and sexual misconduct accusations surrounding media mogul Harvey Weinstein. It remains to be seen whether this Herald PR New York - Harvey Weinstein partnership will finally turn the tide in favor of the company after turbulent times.

Juda Engelmayer, former vice president of 5WPR, is the man tasked to head the newly rebranded communications team. Engelmayer is most famous for his role as a founding member of the Herald PR New York. Herald PR is a New York-based service firm that specializes in public relations, events planning, and handling press conferences. Though the task at hand seems enormous, Engelmayer will count on his wealth of experience in the communications industry for the Weinstein Company.

In an exclusive interview with CNNMoney on Wednesday, Juda Engelmayer confirmed that he had indeed signed on with the Weinstein Company. Though details about his appointment are scarce at the moment, he confirmed that the agreement was arrived at “in the past couple of days.” He, however, declined to provide further comment when probed about the nature of his appointment.

The Weinstein Company is a motion picture arts firm that has been in existence since 2005. The company was formed by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob shortly after they left Miramax (Another entertainment company they had both co-founded). Since its inception in 2005, The Weinstein Company has gone on to receive numerous nominations and awards for its exemplary plays and musicals. The most notable being the academy award for producing Shakespeare in love. Billy Elliot the musical, the producers, and August: Osage County are examples of plays and musicals that have won the Tony awards.

Harvey Weinstein, in particular, has had an illustrious career spanning over three decades. During the 30 years, he has been famous for his role as an American film producer. As kids, Harvey and his brother Bob developed a passion for the movie business. Their love for the movie industry culminated in the formation of Miramax, a small independent film distribution company named after their parents Miriam and max. Miramax soon grew into a booming business and was soon producing mainstream hits such as sex, lies and videotape, pulp fiction, and the crying game. The films turned out to be a huge success in movie theatres across the globe.

Despite the success of the Weinstein Company, founding member Harvey Weinstein has not been short of controversy. In October 2017, reports emerged that the media mogul had sexually harassed countless women over the years. These reports first surfaced when the New Yorker and the Times report both published articles where three women accused Weinstein of a series of sexual offenses. Some high-profile celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow also came forward to air their experiences of sexual harassment at the hands of Weinstein.

Following the allegations of sexual misconduct against him, Weinstein sort the services of Sitrick and Company to help deal with the mess. Sitrick and Company, a firm that specializes in crisis management, began working with Weinstein soon after the reports by Times report and New Yorker. However, Sitrick and the company’s involvement was not enough to extinguish the scandal emanating from the incessant allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women in Hollywood. The allegations culminated in Weinstein being laid off by the Weinstein Company, a firm he had built from scratch out of Buffalo, New York. Weinstein has since denied any accusations of non-consensual sex from more than 80 women.

Juda Engelmayer’s appointment comes in the backdrop of news that the Weinstein Company had parted ways with Sitrick and company. Representatives from Sitrick and company appeared to confirm to CNNMoney that the firm no longer represents the former film producer. However, they declined to give reasons behind their botched partnership with Harvey Weinstein.

However, for Engelmayer, sexual misconduct allegations represent only a fraction of the task at hand. The Weinstein Company is also being rocked by a series of ongoing criminal investigations as well as the threat of bankruptcy. After filing for bankruptcy, the firm also nullified employees’ NDAs. It is now upon Engelmayer and his team to restore the faith among the public.

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