Does Martin Scorsese blame Harvey Weinstein for his Oscar curse? The bushy-browed auteur has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Director category six times but has never snagged a statuette. Now, sources close to him are saying Scorsese has requested that Warner Bros. not promote him for The Departed, the highest-grossing and, in the view of many critics, most audience-friendly film of his career.

A sudden attack of humility? Not exactly. Rather, according to sources, Scorcese was uncomfortable with the over-the-top stumping Weinstein did on his behalf for Gangs of New York and The Aviator. Notorious within the industry for running no-holds-barred, if wildly successful, Oscar campaigns (as we touched upon last week), Weinstein's efforts left Scorsese feeling "whored out," says one studio source.

Particularly embarrassing to him was the rebuke Weinstein drew from the Academy for enlisting director Robert Wise (West Side Story) to write an op-ed in the L.A. Daily News touting Scorsese for the Oscar, and then re-publishing the piece as an ad in the entertainment trades. In the end, insiders say, Scorsese felt all the vote-mongering may have actually turned some potential Academy voters against him.

As recently as a few weeks ago, a high-level Warner Bros. exec was telling reporters that the studio intended to "go all the way" for Scorsese as best director. But now that seems to be changing—and not only because of Scorsese's wish to keep a low profile this time around. Sources close to the film believe Scorsese's recently announced four-year, multi-picture deal at rival Paramount is at least as much of a factor. Of the first-look deal, which guarantees Scorsese $2.5 million in annual overhead, one insider says, "Warners' motivation to push him up for an Oscar just took a serious hit."

Reps for Scorsese and Weinstein could not be reached at press time.