Enlarge image
Scott Rudin (with trophy) at the 2008 Academy Awards: Notorious for anger attacks for a long time
Photo: Mark J. Terrill / AP
Scott Rudin is a member of the EGOT Club - it couldn't be more exclusive.
Because the abbreviation »EGOT« refers to the 16 people who have received at least an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award - the most prestigious awards for television, music, film and theater works in the USA .
But a cover story of the respected industry magazine "The Hollywood Reporter" now casts a clear shadow over the reputation of the producer.
"BULLY" is written in red capital letters on the title above a picture of the now 62-year-old.
So far in Hollywood Rudin's "volcanic behavior" has been waved through.
But now former employees are speaking, it goes on: "Everyone knows that he is an absolute monster."
Several former employees of Scott Rudin Productions can be cited by name in the article.
For example, one reports that Rudin smashed a computer screen on an assistant's hand - "a lack of self-control that I've never seen in a workplace."
The employee had to be treated medically.
Enlarge image
Rudin production "The Social Network" (2010): Success as protection
Photo: interTOPICS / LMK Media / ddp images
Another former employee tells of being pelted with a potato by Rudin, others report of thrown glass bowls, napkin dispensers, teacups and staples.
"Every day was horrible," says an employee who has since left the film business.
A colleague claims that Rudin fired her because of her type 1 diabetes.
She says she could have sued him for it, but refrained from being afraid of being blacklisted in the industry.
After a year and a half in the service of Netflix, she now dares to openly call Rudin a "monster".
In Hollywood, Scott Rudin's tantrums had been known for a long time - but were often dismissed as the eccentric behavior of a power man.
"The most feared man in town," wrote the Hollywood Reporter himself in 2010 in a portrait that also praised Rudin's charm.
The "New York Post" was already clearer in 2014: "The man who is known as Hollywood's biggest A-hole," was the headline of the tabloid.
Enlarge image
Scene from "No Country For Old Men": Oscar for the best film
Photo: ddp images
But the success apparently protected Rudin from major consequences for a long time.
Films produced by him (such as "The Hours" by Stephen Daldry, David Fincher's "The Social Network" or "Grand Budapest Hotel" by Wes Anderson) won 151 Oscar nominations and 23 trophies - including those for best film for " No Country For Old Men, ”the neo-western directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
His successes on Broadway earned him 17 Tony Awards.
Many employees insulted by Rudin feared his influence, the Hollywood Reporter quotes sources according to which silence clauses were often included in termination agreements.
With the fall of the film producer Harvey Weinstein in October 2017 and the rise of the #MeToo movement, however, something changed in the industry.
Toxic working conditions in the entertainment industry are becoming more and more popular - most recently, for example, on the TV talk show by Ellen DeGeneres.
In the case of Scott Rudin, the film producer Megan Ellison, who worked with Rudin on the Coen Brothers film "True Grit", writes on Twitter: The research of the "Hollywood Reporter" only scratched the surface of Rudin's "abusive, racist and sexist" aspects Behavior".
She draws parallels to Weinstein and says: "As with Harvey, too many are afraid to speak up".
She applauds everyone who dared and pledges her support.
Because, according to Ellison: "There are reasons to be afraid, because he is vengeful and has no qualms about lying."
feb
