Former staffers accused Hollywood producer Scott Rudin of abuse in an expose published Wednesday by The Hollywood Reporter.
Specifically, Rudin has been accused of physically abusing a staff member who failed to secure him a seat on a flight, the outlet reported. The unidentified staff member had to be taken to the hospital after Rudin allegedly smashed an Apple computer monitor on the assistant’s hand.
Even as other Hollywood bullies have been shamed or sidelined, the uber-producer behind ‘The Social Network’ and Broadway’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has been given a pass, and even lauded, for his volcanic behavior. Now, former employees are speaking out https://t.co/bzFNr4hF0W pic.twitter.com/CpaAuVmCvl
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 7, 2021
“We were all shocked because we didn’t know that that sort of thing could happen in that office,” Andrew Coles, an assistant at the time of the incident in 2012, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“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.” (RELATED: ‘Little People, Big World’ Star Accuses Producer Of Molesting Him)
Executive coordinator Caroline Rugo claimed the producer once threw a glass bowl towards a staffer, the outlet reported.
“He threw a laptop at the window in the conference room and then went into the kitchen and we could hear him beating on the napkin dispenser,” Rugo told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Then another time he threw a glass bowl at [a colleague]. It’s hard to say if he threw it in the general direction or specifically at [the colleague], but the glass bowl hit the wall and smashed everywhere. The HR person left in an ambulance due to a panic attack. That was the environment.”
Rudin is most known for his work on major blockbuster hits and plays. He worked on “The Book Of Mormon” and “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Films produced by Rudin included “No Country For Old Men,” “The Social Network” and Netflix’s upcoming release, “The Woman in the Window.” Rudin has nabbed 151 Oscars nominations and won 23 Oscars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter previously published an article in 2010 calling Rudin “The Most Feared Man In Town.” In 2005, Rudin revealed he had gone through 119 assistants within a five-year period in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Rugo claimed she was fired by Rudin for having type one diabetes.
“I got fired for having Type 1 diabetes, which is a federally protected disability,” Rugo told the outlet. “I one hundred percent could have sued him. But I didn’t because of the fear of being blacklisted.”
An unidentified assistant told the outlet that the producer once threw a teacup at the wall after the assistant wouldn’t clean the kitchen.
Rubin did not respond to The Hollywood Reporter’s request for comment on the allegations of bullying and abuse.