‘WeCrashed’ Details and References in the Apple TV+ WeWork Drama

The Wall Street Journal story in the first episode re-creates the featured image from the original.

In the first episode of “WeCrashed,” Leto’s Neumann is presented with a copy of a Wall Street Journal about him. It’s an extremely close copy of the real-life Wall Street Journal article.

In the show, Leto recreated the image of Leto that was used as the main image for the WSJ story, showing Neumann speaking at an event with his arms outstretched, wearing a shirt with “Made By We” in repeating, rainbow text.  The two stories have similar headlines: The in-show one is “Adam Neumann Built WeWork — And May Destroy It;” the WSJ headline is “How Adam Neumann’s Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork. ‘This is not the way everybody behaves.'”

Their publication dates slightly differ as well. The in-show article has a publication date of September 19, 2019, while the WSJ story was published digitally on September 18, 2019.

Greendesk, the real-life first business that Neumann and McKelvey started that’s briefly shown in episode 1 of the show, still exists today.

In episode 1, Neumann and McKelvey are shown starting — and selling — Greendesk, a coworking space, before their eventual move to start WeWork.

Before launching the first WeWork location in SoHo in 2010, the real-life Neumann and McKelvey struck a deal with their landlord in Dumbo, Brooklyn, to launch Greendesk, Insider previously reported. Eventually, the pair sold their stake in Greendesk in 2010, and turned their focus to WeWork. The company still exists today.

Neumann’s failed businesses in episode 1 also existed.

Neumann told Insider in 2015 that before WeWork, he owned a baby clothing company called Krawlers based out of Dumbo, Brooklyn. That company is briefly depicted in episode one, and its portrayal in the show echoes what Neumann told Insider.

“I was misguided and putting my energy into all the wrong places,” he said in 2015.

As the New York Times reported in 2019, one of Neumann’s other pre-WeWork business ventures was a collapsible high heel, which is also depicted in the first episode of “WeCrashed.”

Neumann drinks tequila multiple times in episode 2, nodding to his noted love for the alcohol.

In episode two, Neumann drinks tequila at his wedding, the night before the first WeWork opens, and the morning of its opening. It’s a precursor of the liquor to flow in later episodes, as well as Neumann’s own taste in real life. Insider previously reported that Neumann has an affinity for tequila.

Rebekah’s proclamation at Summer Camp in episode 3 generated controversy — but the timelines are a bit blurry.

Much of “WeCrashed’s” third episode is preoccupied with the fallout of a comment that Rebekah makes onstage at WeWork’s Summer Camp.

“A big part of being a woman is to help men manifest their calling,” Rebekah says onstage in episode 3.

She’s quoted as making that remark at WeWork Summer Camp 2018 in an August 2018 Property Week story. The episode, however, seems to take place roughly around 2014, judging by the timing of Rebekah’s father asking for her to write a character reference letter for him in the episode.

Bustle reported that in 2014, Rebekah’s father Bob pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion, and was sentenced to six months in prison. Rebekah’s letter suggested that her father’s actions were related to his sadness from the death of her brother Keith.

Rebekah is wearing a classic WeWork shirt in her final speech at Summer Camp in episode 3.

When Rebekah makes her apology speech at the end of Summer Camp in episode 3, she’s wearing the same “Made By We” shirt that Neumann — and Leto, in episode 1 — was pictured in in the 2019 Wall Street Journal story. 

‘Your New Landlord’ was also the title of Neumann’s 2015 Bloomberg Businessweek cover, as depicted in Episode 4.

In episode 4, Neumann poses for the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek, wearing a shirt that says “creator” in all caps and pounding a plastic wall. The cover is emblazoned with the worlds, “Your New Landlord.”

“WeWork – the billion-dollar unicorn startup for today’s gig economy,” the subtitle on the cover reads.

The real Neumann appeared on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek along with a May 2015 story. On the real cover, Neumann is standing calmly, wearing a shirt that reads “creator” in all caps and with the same “Your New Landlord” title.

“WeWork, the $5 billion real estate startup for the Wi-Fi-sucking, beer-swilling itinerant workforce,” the subtitle on the cover reads.

When Rebekah Googles herself in episode 4, a real Vanity Fair article pops up.

In episode four, Rebekah Googles herself, bringing up a host of related inquires like, “Is Rebekah Neumann related to Gwyneth Paltrow?” and “When did Rebekah Paltrow meet Adam Neumann?”

Below the suggested questions, there’s also a cut-off Vanity Fair headline that corresponds to a real-life article, “How Billionaire Rebekah Neumann Put the Woo-Woo in WeWork,” published in June 2021.

There’s just one problem — the story was published approximately half a decade after the event of this point in the story. Judging by the Bloomberg Businessweek cover Adam appears on (the real one was published in May 2015) and the 2016 layoffs depicted later in the episode, Rebekah is searching her name sometime in 2015 or 2016.

The Run-DMC performance in episode 4 actually happened in 2016, with slightly different timing.

In episode four, Neumann makes the decision to lay off 7% of WeWork’s workforce. In the show, the party occurs essentially directly after the layoffs, with one employee still packing up her desk as Run-DMC plays in the next room.

The same performance occurred in 2016, after an all-hands meeting that the Wall Street Journal reported took place a “few weeks” after the round of layoffs. At the meeting, employees carrying trays of tequila shots came into the room. Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC came in to perform “It’s Tricky,” the song that plays during the episode.