EP Michael Chernuchin says that instead of being set in the entertainment industry, the upcoming hour inspired by the famed producer will be centered on the airline industry.
- Nov 23, 2017
AceShowbiz - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is set to once again continue its tradition of ripped-from-the-headlines investigation. The NBC series will air its take on recent sexual misconduct allegations made against Hollywood film executive Harvey Weinstein.
"We are hitting Harvey Weinstein head-on, but it's not in the realm of the entertainment business," executive producer Michael Chernuchin explains to Entertainment Weekly. "It's a real important episode about the rape culture in an industry, and we wanted to try stretch the law to criminalize that sort of environment."
Chernuchin says that instead of being set in the entertainment industry, the episode will be centered on the airline industry. "We were actually working on a story about airline pilots and what a boys club that is," Chernuchin reveals. "We were beating the story out and said, 'Wow, this is exactly what the actresses go through in Hollywood. It's the same environment.' So we got all of our Harvey stuff out with airline pilots."
The said episode is scheduled to air sometime in 2018.
On October 5, The New York Times released a report detailing sexual misconduct accusations against the producers after conducting months of investigation. Since then, a slew of celebrities, including Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have come forward with similar allegations against Weinstein. Following the accusation, Weistein was fired from The Weinstein Company.
Previously, "Law & Order: SVU" was set to air an episode which was inspired by President Donald Trump's sexual misconduct scandal during his campaign. First slated to air on October 12, the episode, titled "Unstoppable", was later pushed to October 26 air date before quietly being pulled after Trump won the election. NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt previously said in an interview at the TCA summer press tour that the hour "is probably never going to air."
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 19 airs on Wednesdays at 9 P.M. on NBC.
