“Scott got what he deserves” – The Hollywood Reporter

Aaron Sorkin responded to allegations of bullying and workplace misconduct against producer Scott Rudin, saying his former collaborator “got what he deserves” before explaining why he personally remained silent afterwards.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published on Thursday, Sorkin told the magazine: “I think Scott got what he deserves,” but said that because “he’s lying flat on the carpet right now,” Sorkin isn’t sure ” what this is helpful for me to stand on his torso and sort of jump up and down.

This is partly why the writer-director-producer and former Rudin collaborator says he has not spoken about the allegations and reports, even though he has been named in stories highlighting his silence. These stories, Sorkin said, imply that his lack of response somehow approves and diminishes what Rudin has done, or suggests that he and other collaborators are trying to leave the door open to “work with him when and if he is. made a comeback “.

He denies this, sharing that although he does not have social media, he has had an opportunity to respond, including a request to The New York Times. But the decision was, for him, to know who would benefit from speaking.

“The reason I didn’t do it was, again, that he’s flat on the mat, and I couldn’t think of anyone who would benefit from me saying something other than myself. That I can stand there and say, “Hey, I’m with the good guys. And it didn’t feel right to do that.

Sorkin shared that the consequences for Rudin were not followed up as a result of the hollywood reporter story published on April 7, he would have spoken. “I think if the hollywood reporter the story had come out and nothing had happened as a result – that everyone would shrug their shoulders and say, “Oh, well, this is Scott, this is show business” – I would have felt obligated to say something, to say, “Why are we still working with him? We shouldn’t be doing that. But that’s not what happened. The consequences came quickly, and he sort of got the maximum penalty you can get for that. “

Sorkin also responded to those who called knowledge of Rudin’s abuse “something everyone knew”, telling the magazine it was “ridiculous”. He said that not only did not everyone know, but that he “doesn’t know anyone who knew”. He then developed his personal experience with the producer, calling him “an upper class of bullying”.

“The stories that I had heard over the past 12 years were the kind of thing that – they could have been scenes of The devil wears Prada, there was no violence, ”he said. “There is nothing physical at all in the stories I have heard. If I had known, there’s no way I would have tolerated it, there’s no way Bart Sher [director of Sorkin’s Rudin-produced Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird] would have tolerated it, that Jeff Daniels [who plays Atticus Finch] would have tolerated it. So we didn’t know. And once we did, we did something about it.

Read the allegations in THRThe story of, Sorkin said – having worked “a lot” with Rudin over the past 12 years – was painful, “especially because it is highly likely that some of those assistants who were abused were working on something. that I wrote while they were being abused.

“So I took it personally. Whether it’s a film set, a rehearsal room for a play, behind the scenes of a play or a TV series, morale is important to me. And I’m very proud to create a place where people are really happy to come to work, where they feel a sense of belonging, a sense of fatherhood, a sense of family. And we have this at Mockingbird. We always had this in Mockingbird. So it was a big shock, ”he said.

THR The April story offered detailed accounts of several of Rudin’s former assistants and employees, who made a myriad of allegations of misconduct and abuse – including throwing things like tea cups and potatoes – while working for the producer. More details also emerged in a follow-up story from June 23, reporting that actress Frances McDormand and director Joel Coen saw Rudin berating one of her assistants before she resigned. The duo then responded to the allegations, denying they saw any bad behavior, with Coen saying Deadline that, from his point of view, “whoever says we have seen it is not being honest.” So that makes me skeptical of anything that this particular person might say. “

As a result of the reporting, Rudin withdrew from several film and theater projects, including his role in The Broadway League, theatrical productions like The man of music and Mill! Red, as well as the upcoming film directed by Jennifer Lawrence of A24 Red, White and Water and Coen Macbeth’s tragedy, which stars Denzel Washington and McDormand.