By: Rusty Brooks
The New York Times reportedly shelved an exposé on embattled Hollywood and Broadway hotshot producer Scott Rudin that was scheduled to run last year.
According to a new THR report, the Times had on-the-record accounts of Rudin’s abuse over a year before the story actually broke, NY Post pointed out.
It is speculated that Rudin, who spent big money for decades advertising in the Times, has deep connections to the Democratic Party friendly publication.
NY Post reported:
The story was set to run the weekend of the 2020 Oscars, which took place Feb. 9, but was held without explanation to those who had participated, according to THR, which cited multiple anonymous sources.
TV reported previously:
In a lurid report, The Hollywood Reporter details several previously unreported instances of workplace abuse and bullying allegedly committed by Rudin, the celebrated and feared producer behind such critically acclaimed movies as No Country for Old Men, The Social Network, Lady Bird, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Broadway smash hits such as Book of Mormon & Hello Dolly starring Bette Midler.
The Reporter ‘s story includes an incident in 2012 when Rudin became so enraged that one of his assistants failed to book him a seat on a sold-out flight that he allegedly smashed an Apple computer monitor on the assistant’s hand. The screen reportedly shattered, leaving the young man bleeding. The assistant went to the emergency room while Rudin dialed his lawyer.
The victim ultimately received three associate producing credits and a monetary settlement, anonymous sources told the Reporter. Most bullying claims against Rudin are settled quietly, a legal source told the trade journal.
A man who was Rudin’s executive assistant from 2018 to 2019 claims to have experienced and witnessed so much mistreatment — including Rudin allegedly throwing a stapler at a theater assistant and calling him a “retard” — that he quit the industry altogether.
“Every day was exhausting and horrific,” Ryan Nelson told the Reporter.
According to the NY Post: Caroline Rugo, an ex-Rudin staffer who participated in THR’s exposé, said she gave an on-the-record account of Rudin’s behavior to the Times in early 2020, according to THR. Josh Arnon, another former staffer, told THR that he spoke with a Times reporter for hours about Rudin, but the story “never came to pass.”
The Times did eventually run an exposé on Rudin in April, following other outlets.
THR noted that Rudin has serious business ties with the Times. He has previously been one of the biggest ad revenue streams for the newspaper’s Arts & Leisure section, totaling about $3 million a year, THR reported, citing sources familiar with the relationship.
As Broadway has launched its staggered re-opening, Rudin himself stepped down from The Broadway League, the trade association for producers and theatre owners, almost three weeks after being first accused of decades of abusive behavior towards employees, in April. This has delayed the re-opening of West Side Story, one of the shows Rudin was producing.
