In Private, Weinstein Brothers Were at War With Each Other

Bob Weinstein's prior knowledge of the sexual harassment and assault allegations now piling up against his brother, Harvey Weinstein, isn't clear. What is clear is that the brothers were in the midst of a rift that the scandal would only expose. According to the Los Angeles Times, the brothers with a reputation for noisy spats had for years pursued their own interests at the Weinstein Company—Bob favoring commercial flicks, Harvey preferring high-brow films—when Harvey reportedly punched Bob during a meeting six years ago. "I divorced my brother five years ago" and since then, "I've probably talked to my brother 10 times on any personal level," Bob Weinstein tells the Hollywood Reporter. "I could not take being around him."

In 2015, it was Bob Weinstein who alerted the Weinstein Company's board of directors to a sexual harassment allegation made against his brother by a female employee, the Times reports. Publicly, however, the brothers played nice to appease their mother, sources say. Upon her death last year at age 90, outright war was no longer out of the question. But if Bob Weinstein intended to take full control over the company he built with his brother, he might've been overconfident. Now facing his own allegations of harassment and bullying, he may only hold onto his offshoot label Dimension Films. There's also the possibility he could start a new label, but that may be a challenge without his brazen brother leading the charge, reports NBC News. (More Harvey Weinstein stories.)