Scott Rudin has long been one of the most celebrated and powerful producers in Hollywood and, especially, on Broadway — an EGOT who won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and 17 Tony Awards while developing a reputation as one of the vilest bosses in the industry.
Respected for his taste and talent — with films like “The Social Network” and “No Country for Old Men” and shows including “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Book of Mormon” — he is also known within the entertainment world for terrorizing underlings, hurling staplers, cellphones, mugs and other improvised projectiles in moments of rage.
But the abuse of assistants is just a small part of the way he has wielded his power.
He has a reputation for being vengeful: After a dispute with an agent over airfare, he allegedly pressured some of the agent’s clients to leave him. He is litigious: He sued an insurance company seeking an enormous payout after he blamed the closing of a musical on the pregnancy of a star, Audra McDonald. And he can be callous: When Rita Wilson, who was starring in one of his plays, told him that she had breast cancer, she said, he lamented that she would need to take time off during Tony voting season.
Now, though, the 62-year-old producer is facing a reckoning. An article this month in The Hollywood Reporter detailing his long history of bullying assistants prompted an outcry, leading Rudin to announce that he would step back from “active participation” in his projects on Broadway, in Hollywood and in London’s West End. And in written responses to questions for this article, he said he was “profoundly sorry” for his behavior and revealed that he is resigning from the Broadway League, which is the trade association of producers and theater owners.
“I know apologizing is not, by any means, enough,” he said. “In stepping back, I intend to work on my issues and do so fully aware that many will feel that this is too little and too late.”
For decades Rudin had largely escaped consequences for his behavior. Established and emerging artists flocked to him, in part because of his appetite for artistically ambitious (and often award-winning) work. But he also benefited from his reputation for ruthlessness: Many of those harmed by his wrath have been afraid of retaliation if they speak out.
Even some of his biggest backers say he needs to change.
“He’s had a bad temper,” said billionaire David Geffen, who alongside his fellow mogul Barry Diller has been coproducing Rudin’s recent Broadway shows, “and he clearly needs to do anger management or something like that.”
The New York Times interviewed dozens of actors, writers, agents, producers, investors and office assistants who have worked with Rudin, examined financial records of his stage shows and reviewed court papers from his many legal disputes. What emerged confirmed much of what was detailed by The Hollywood Reporter and provided a fuller picture of how he used and abused power not only in his offices but also as he alternately cultivated and castigated colleagues at all levels of the entertainment industry.
After Rudin’s decades of dominance, his comeuppance — if that is what it is — arrives as the entertainment industry is contemplating a post-pandemic future that many hope will look different from the past.
The Rudin employee handbook, distributed to new staffers, outlines strict rules of conduct. “Rude, offensive or outrageous behavior” is verboten. Co-workers must treat one another with “patience, respect and consideration.” Be courteous and helpful. Do not send angry or rude emails.
But employees swiftly learned that there was one person to whom those rules did not apply: the boss.
Mistakes, real and imagined, sent Rudin into a rage — an incorrect font (he insists on Garamond), a misspelled name, an unwiped conference table.
