LIFETIME has jumped in to the court battle over the future of “Project Runway,” threatening to turn the reality show into a legal soap opera.
The women’s network – which agreed last summer to pay $150 million to lure the hit series away from the NBC-owned Bravo channel – is seeking to move the contract dispute out of New York state court into federal court.
A New York judge earlier this month stopped the show’s producer, movie-mogul Harvey Weinstein, from moving “Runway” to Lifetime until a contract dispute with NBC is settled.
Lifetime – which was not a party to the suit – is now asking a federal court to lift the injunction and let them air the show while NBC and Weinstein battle it out.
The new season on “Runway” is currently being taped in LA and Lifetime had made it the centerpiece of its new line-up.
The latest season of ‘Runway” ended last week with the biggest audience the show ever had, nearly 5 million viewers.
Over the weekend, NBC denounced the suit as an “11th hour move” that, it says, will delay the case and keep the next season of “Runway” off the air even longer.
