Veteran producer Scott Rudin has been accused of physical and mental abuse by former assistants and employees, including allegedly breaking a computer monitor on an assistant’s hand and throwing objects like potatoes and glass bowls at staffers.
Rudin’s bad behavior and temper have long been documented as part of the “No Country For Old Men” and “The Social Network” producer’s four-decade career which has helped him become one of the view people to ever EGOT (win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). But the new details come in a THR cover story that speaks with employees, some speaking anonymously, who referred to him as an “absolute monster” and “unhinged.”
Rudin through a representative declined to comment on any specific accusations in the piece, and reps for Rubin did not immediately respond to TheWrap for a request for comment. Here are some of the alleged accusations:
He Smashed a Computer Monitor on an Assistant’s Hand
The article describes Rudin allegedly smashing an Apple computer monitor on an assistant’s hand in 2012 after he failed to get him a seat on a sold-out flight, leaving him bleeding and in need of medical attention, though the alleged victim declined to comment to THR. The incident left other staffers shaken by the experience and shocked.
“We knew a lot could happen. There were the guys that were sleeping in the office, the guys whose hair was falling out and were developing ulcers. It was a very intense environment, but that just felt different. It was a new level of unhinged — a level of lack of control that I had never seen before in a workplace,” a former assistant Andrew Coles, who was not the hand-smashing victim, told THR.
He Threw a Baked Potato at Someone’s Head
In another incident, Rudin is accused of throwing a baked potato at an employee after learning that someone from A24 was waiting for him in their lobby. The assistant also said he was later fired within months of him dropping out of college to accept a full-time position with Rudin.
“I went into the kitchen, and I was like, ‘Hey, Scott, A24 is on the way up. I’m not sure what it’s concerning,’” the former assistant told THR. “And he flipped out, like, ‘Nobody told me A24 was on my schedule.’ He threw it at me, and I dodged a big potato. He was like, ‘Well, find out, and get me a new potato.’”
He Lorded Over People
Another former assistant Miguel Cortes says that he left the industry after leaving Scott Rudin Productions in 2019 and said that the producer had a way of making him feel small.
“I’m a tall guy. Like 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, well, I’m not intimidated by him. He’s shorter than me.’ But every time I’d be sitting down is when he’d come over and lord over me,” Cortes told THR. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s almost a genius move, getting me when I’m at my smallest.’ He would be right over me and literally shouting at me.”
An Employee Says She Was Fired for Having Diabetes
One assistant named Caroline Rugo who now works at Netflix says she had to begin her days at 5:00 AM but obtained a doctor’s note saying she needed to carve out 30 minutes at 5:30 to work out each day in order to treat her diabetes. She told THR that Rudin eventually fired her after six months but had tried to get her to adjust her schedule and blamed her for a feud between Nathan Lane and director George C. Wolfe.
Rugo claimed that she was fired for condition and that she could have sued but feared being blacklisted.
“Now that I have established myself here and I am a part of a team where my opinions are respected and welcomed, I have no issue speaking out about Scott. Everyone just knows he’s an absolute monster,” she said.
Rudin Tried to Smear a Former Assistant for Leaving
THR cited multiple sources who said that after one unnamed staffer left Scott Rudin Productions to work at The Weinstein Company, he emailed Harvey Weinstein and accused the assistant of stealing from her. Weinstein continued to employ her. The mistreatment of a colleague after they had left additionally shocked former staffers.
“That was a big, big moment,” one former employee told THR. “It literally changed everyone who was there at the time’s interest in having anything to do with him ever again. All of the employees realized that this is what we had to look forward to, after slaving away, being attacked so much, being maligned in really bizarre ways. There was a casual disregard for human rights.”
Read the full cover story about Rudin over at THR.