George Harrison Stunned His Company by Mass Firing Employees via Fax

In 1978, George Harrison wanted to see Monty Python’s Life of Brian, so he started a company to finance the film. The film production company, HandMade films, went on to produce a number of notable British films. After enjoying success, however, the company hit financial difficulties. Harrison grew increasingly disenchanted with it, giving a scathing speech about the film industry at HandMade’s tenth anniversary celebration. Soon after, he stunned his employees by sending a fax to fire all the employees he knew by name. 

George Harrison started his company HandMade Films to see a Monty Python film

When the first backer of Life of Brian pulled out at the last minute, Harrison stepped in to help. Per The Guardian, Harrison’s friend Eric Idle contacted him because he was the richest person he knew. Harrison was a fan of Monty Python, so he agreed.

“What happened was that I helped to raise the money for them in order to make the film when the previous backer pulled out,” Harrison told Rolling Stone in 1979. “As I’m a Monty Python fan, I wanted to see the movie — I like to go and have a laugh too — and a friend suggested that I try and raise the money. So we just got a loan from a bank. It’s a risk I suppose.”

The risk paid off. The film was a success, and Harrison and his business partner Denis O’Brien went on to produce more movies with HandMade Films.

George Harrison fired employees at his company over fax

After years of success, HandMade took a turn for the worse. The company invested in too many unprofitable movies, and the flops began to wear on Harrison. 

“I have the feeling that George never quite recovered from that,” Michael Palin wrote in the foreword to Very Naughty Boys by Robert Sellers. “He remained generous, but felt compromised and he began to draw back. Once that happened, the end was in sight.”

At the tenth anniversary celebration of HandMade Films, Harrison gave a scathing speech. Per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson, he asked questions such as “What are you f***ers doing here?” and “Why am I spending all my money on you?” to an audience of film industry professionals. The cracks were beginning to show.

Just a month after this event, Harrison sent a fax from Los Angeles to HandMade’s Cadogan Square office, in which he fired everyone he knew.

“The list of who was fired is fascinating — it was only those who he could remember,” movie executive Wendy Palmer said. “The people that weren’t fired were the people that he didn’t know. That really indicated what he knew about the company. He just fired the people he knew, which kind of made it worse, really. But it’s a major claim to fame, being fired by George Harrison.”

He had a hard time recovering from the betrayal by O’Brien

After hiring an accountant to look into HandMade’s financial situation, Harrison learned he was solely responsible for the company’s debts. While he believed that he and O’Brien were equal partners, Harrison alone was financially responsible. He had a hard time handling this betrayal.

“He hated [O’Brien] with an intensity that was quite rare for George,” Idle explained. “It took him a long time to get over all that.”

In 1991, HandMade ceased operations. Three years later, Paragon Entertainment Corporation bought the company.