Even While It Left Workers Vulnerable

“One time, he was chewing us out. And then my friend, who was his executive assistant, was like, ‘Timothée Chalamet’s coming up the elevator.’ As soon as the door opens, he literally turns from berating us and is like, ‘Buddy! How have you been?’ ”

—DOCUMENTS ASSISTANT, 2018–19

“I saw a guy get fired before 7 a.m. on his first day. I go, ‘So here’s the deal: If the phones ring, you answer, and you say “Scott Rudin’s office.”’ The phone rings at probably 6:45, and he picks it up and says ‘Scott Rubin’s office.’ And it’s Scott. You just hear through the phone so many expletives: ‘What the fuck?! You’re fired! Get the fuck outta here!’ Dude packed his stuff up, and he was gone by like 6:58. I was probably ‘fired’ 30 to 40 times.”

—ASSISTANT, 1990S

For more than two decades, the brutal working environment of Scott Rudin Productions was the subject of gossip in both Hollywood and on Broadway, with little consequence for the powerful producer until recently. Vulture spoke with 33 assistants, who worked with Rudin over a span of some 25 years, about their experiences.

“When I went in to interview for the job, the office culture was alluded to in a coy way: ‘I’m sure you’re familiar with this office’s reputation. We’re looking for people that are thick-skinned and can work in a high-stress environment.’ ” —DEVELOPMENT INTERN AND ASSISTANT, 2018

“This one’s pretty famous. Supposedly, he got off a call with a reporter about a story or review he didn’t like, and he goes into the kitchen. He takes all of the dishes out, and he starts slamming them on the floor. He breaks every dish in the kitchen. Then he silently walks out of the office and leaves.” —DOCUMENTS ASSISTANT, 2017

“There was an assistant, and he gave her a very expensive pashmina for her birthday. And I was like, Oh, he must really like her. And then I don’t know how long after it this was, but I came across her absolutely sobbing in the break room, being comforted by the office manager, another assistant. She was completely devastated by whatever he had said to her. And this was somebody that he had bought a several-thousand-dollar pashmina for.” —SAM LASKEY, INTERN AND PAID READER, 2008–11

“He had a ‘hot seat’ assistant, who had been there for months when I started, who could take Scott’s shit like nobody else. He was great at his job, but Scott eventually starts looking for something about you that bothers him. For this particular assistant, it was that he ended every conversation and phone call with ‘Got it.’ It didn’t affect his productivity in any way, but Scott made it a problem—he made the person hang a huge sign over his desk that said don’t say ‘got it.’ When the phrase slipped out one day, Scott began to really lose it on this guy, so much so that he pulled him into the office kitchen behind a closed door. Scott normally has no problem tearing assistants a new asshole with everyone around. Then we all heard a glass shatter, and the assistant ran out and never came back.” —INTERN AND PHONES ASSISTANT, 2015–16

“One day, I was bringing in a bunch of material for him along with something he’d been gifted from a movie studio. So I physically had a stack of things in my arms. I couldn’t carry anything else. I walk in, and he goes, ‘Pen and paper, pen and paper, pen and paper,’ and starts repeating

it, getting excessively louder. Then he goes, ‘How are you going to remember what I want to throw out and what I want to keep if you don’t have a pen and paper?’ But he’s screaming. And he starts chucking pens at my head. I literally backtracked out of the conference room. You get so afraid, your brain gets cloudy and you’re operating off fear.” —DOCUMENTS ASSISTANT, 2017

“Scott would yell ‘Snapple,’ and I’d have to run to the kitchen, grab a Diet Peach Tea Snapple, and race to his office before he yelled again, which was like six seconds, usually. But sometimes he’d start yelling before pressing the conference button, which cut him off and made it difficult to figure out what he was saying. But you were supposed to react immediately, and you were not supposed to ask questions. There was one time where I didn’t understand what he said. So I said, ‘Could you repeat that?’ And he came out of his office and asked me in this mocking tone if I was deaf. At that point, you can’t really engage in an argument with him because whatever you say, he’s just going to yell at you.” —EILEEN KLOMHAUS, PHONES ASSISTANT, 2019

“On the first day I started as an intern, Chris Rock had come out of a story meeting on what was going to be Top Five. He walked past the front bullpen of the office and said to all the assistants and the interns, ‘It’s okay. You can relax. I know he beats the shit out of you all day.’ ” —JUNIOR CREATIVE EXECUTIVE, 2012–14

“I was let go because I didn’t know about a meeting, and because of that, I didn’t have a script printed. Scott cornered me and was like, ‘Where is this?’ He kept yelling and yelling, and eventually I looked at him and I said, ‘Scott, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s my bad. I didn’t know about the meeting. I can print it for you now. Do you want me to or not?’ He looked at me and said, ‘“My bad”? What is this, fucking high school?’ He was like, ‘You’re done here,’ and then he started kicking and throwing things. He went into the kitchen at one point, and we just heard stuff breaking. You don’t see him, but you imagine this tiny dinosaurarms toy being let out of control. On his way out, he kicked the wall and slammed the door. I just started laughing, and I was like ‘Okay, I guess I’m done.’” —DOCUMENTS ASSISTANT

As told to Tara Abell, Anne Victoria Clark, Gazelle Emami, Nate Jones, E. Alex Jung, Jackson McHenry, Lila Shapiro, Helen Shaw, and Megh Wright.