Scott Rudin steps aside amid allegations
Broadway producer accused of abusive behaviour going back decades, apologises for pain he caused
APOLOGISING “for the pain [his] behaviour caused” to colleagues, producer Scott Rudin – a titanic force on Broadway and in Hollywood – told The Washington Post over the weekend that he will “step back” from his Broadway ventures. He added that he was “taking steps that I should have taken years ago to address this behaviour.”
Rudin, 62, producer of such Broadway hits as “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Book of Mormon” and Oscar winners including “No Country for Old Men,” was accused in an April 7 article by the Hollywood Reporter of “acts of intimidation” and humiliation against his employees, going back decades.
The story, in which several people described allegations that had circulated in the entertainment industry for years about Rudin’s bullying and rages, rocked the theatre world. In one anecdote, he allegedly smashed a computer monitor on an assistant’s hand over an unsuccessful flight booking, sending the employee to the emergency room. He’s also accused of throwing objects at workers, including a stapler and a baked potato.
Demands for artists who work with Rudin to publicly repudiate him mounted on social media in the days after the report. The outrage culminated Wednesday with Tony-winning actress Karen Olivo declaring in an Instagram video that she would not be returning to the Broadway production of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” after the shutdown because she said “the silence about Scott Rudin” was “unacceptable.”
“Building a better industry is more important than putting money in my pocket,” said Olivo, who last year formed with actress Eden Espinosa a reform group, Artists for Economic Transparency.
“People are more important than your pocketbook. That’s it.”
In his first public statement about the controversy, Rudin – who is not involved with “Moulin Rouge!” – acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations against him.
“Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behaviour caused to individuals, directly and indirectly,” he wrote in a threeparagraph statement emailed to The Post.
“After a period of reflection, I’ve made the decision to step back from active participation on our Broadway productions, effective immediately. My roles will be filled by others from the Broadway community and in a number of cases, from the roster of participants already in place on those shows.”
“My passionate hope and expectation is that Broadway will reopen successfully very soon, and that the many talented artists associated with it will once again begin to thrive and share their artistry with the world. I do not want any controversy associated with me to interrupt Broadway’s well deserved return, or specifically, the return of the 1500 people working on these shows.”
Rudin declined to elaborate on the statement, or on what exactly retreating from “active participation” entails. He has spoken to confidants about beginning a program of anger management or some manner of coaching. Whether his actions will in some way quell the calls for punitive action to be taken against him is unclear. Producers who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the allegations have spoken of some sanction by the Broadway League, whose members are Broadway producers and theatre owners. But the league exists primarily as a trade organization and overseer of the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing. Every commercial Broadway production is, in essence, its own private enterprise.
An exit by Rudin has potentially immense consequences for an industry that is short on visionary leaders. The Internet Broadway Database lists 77 plays and musicals produced by Rudin since the early 1990s. They run the gamut from star-driven revivals (Bette Midler in “Hello, Dolly!”; Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in “Fences”) to risky new work by writers previously unseen on Broadway (Taylor Mac’s “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” Lucas Hnath’s “A Doll’s House Part 2”).