Warner Bros. head honco Kevin Tsujihara has stepped down from his post at the WB— #MeToo’ed, if you will, by Kim Masters and Tatiana Siegel’s 3.6 Hollywood Reporter story about his cheating on his wife with British actress Charlotte Kirk. The gist of the affair was that, according to THR , it was a quid-pro-quo kinda thing, with Kirk demanding casting opportunities in exchange for the affair. The man did nothing, relatively-speaking, “wrong” by deciding to sleep with a fame-hungry would-be actress. The usual vultures saying he deserves to lose his job because he used his power and influence (as the head of one of the biggest studios on the planet) to land Kirk some gigs are also not wrong.
Their affair or deal resulted in Kirk nabbing some slight supporting roles in 2016’s “How to Be Single” and 2018’s “Ocean’s 8.” Sure, on the scale of #MeToo accusations this is not Harvey Weinstein or Bryan Singer -leveled behavior, but, I guess, it’s definitely problematic, maybe distasteful, but nobody’s consent was broken either.
Somehow, we still don’t know exactly how, Masters and Siegel found the illicit texts between Tsujihara and Kirk, which led to the bombshell THR story. I am in disagreement with the way these reporters decided to run with the story, which is not really a #MeToo level thing. Fine, Tsujihara was busted and publicly shamed by Masters and Siegel for playing around with an easy-on-the-eyes English actress, but doesn’t that kind of thing happen all the time, of course, with the actress’ consents? Kirk has, by and large, defended Tsujihara in this ordeal, saying the THR reporting was unfair. He obviously had to quit due to the public shaming, but I’m more furious with THR for reporting the damn thing. He used his power to sleep with an actress. He should have been fired. However, I don't think the story should have been reported by THR. It was a private matter between Kirk and himself, nobody else should have gotten involved in this.
Charlotte Kirk did not spread the story, which should be hers to tell or keep, not some journalists looking to up their name in the investigative media circuit. As mentioned, Kirk told Masters and Siegel that Tsujihara did nothing wrong, and that she wasn't looking to hurt him.
“It is in the best interest of WarnerMedia, Warner Bros., our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down as Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros.,” said WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey.
He continued, “Kevin has contributed greatly to the studio’s success over the past 25 years and for that we thank him. Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the Company’s leadership expectations and could impact the Company’s ability to execute going forward.”
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.