The TIME 100 list, TIME magazine's annual countdown of the most influential people in the world, arrived on newsstands on Wednesday, and of course Harvey Weinstein made the cut.
Harvey had a tremendous year in 2011. The Weinstein Company CEO brought Best Picture-winning "The Artist" to American shores and helped Meryl Streep break her 29-year Oscar statuette drought by producing "The Iron Lady." Streep won Best Actress for playing Margaret Thatcher in the film, beating out Viola Davis, who also made the TIME 100 list.
Weinstein has long been known for his cantankerous attitude, something Johnny Depp -- who wrote about Weinstein for the issue and starred in the Weinstein-produced "Finding Neverland" -- noted in his piece.
"No one gets to the top without the occasional scrap," wrote Depp. "While he's certainly the charming servant to film he purports to be, Harvey isn't afraid of a duke-'em-out. (I've had the pleasure of being both his ally and his enemy at various times.) He stops at nothing for what he believes in."
To that end, Weinstein was recently in the news for his tireless battle with the MPAA over the R-rating given to the documentary "Bully," about the bullying epidemic in American schools. The film was given a PG-13 after Weinstein and director Lee Hirsch made some edits, but didn't touch a key scene that contained multiple uses of the F-word.
In addition to Weinstein and Davis, other celebrities on the list include Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Louis C.K. and Chelsea Handler. Maybe next year, Scott Rudin!
[via TIME]
PHOTOS: Harvey Weinstein & Friends
