Gadfly documentary-maker Michael Moore says he won’t settle with Bob and Harvey Weinstein over money he claims they owe him and wants his day in court.
Moore sued the Weinsteins in February, alleging they still owe him $2.7 million from his movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” and accused them of using “financial deception” and “bogus accounting methods” to divert money he claims he should have been paid.
Moore told Page Six, “No settlement. No interest in one. Discovery and depositions will reveal how the accounting is done, once and for all.” Moore, who was in talks with the Weinsteins about new projects up till the day the suit was filed, told us that an independent auditor found he’s owed “a minimum of $3 million.”
“Harvey and I have a lot of important history together, brothers in arms,” Moore said. “And he and Bob have been nothing but a force for good for indie filmmakers . . . I hold no ill will, and for now am just blaming all of this on his accountants and business-affairs people. If I had to bet, I’m guessing they never even showed him the independent auditor’s report.”
He said he would like to work with the Weinsteins again, and: “. . . [Harvey] can fix this any day he wants to, and we can get back to making movies and raising a ruckus together.”
But the Weinsteins’ lawyer, Bert Fields, has previously said, “They have paid [Moore] everything he should be paid.” While the Weinsteins declined to comment on what Moore told Page Six, sources say he’s already pocketed $20.6 million from “Fahrenheit” and that the money he says he’s owed was used to pay “union guild residuals” and other “standard deductions.” The sources noted that the film was distributed in tandem with Lionsgate, which also took a cut from its $119 million box-office take.
“[The Weinsteins] would be rushing to settle if they were concerned, but they’re not,” said a source. “[The suit] is riddled with inaccuracies and ridiculous claims.”