exposed

One of Hollywood’s most powerful gay men accused of being “absolute monster” in bombshell exposé

One of the most powerful gay men in Hollywood, film and theater producer Scott Rudin, is being called an “absolute monster” in an explosive Hollywood Reporter cover story that is packed with all sorts of shocking accusations.

Rudin has produced such films as queer cult classics The First Wives Club and Clueless, plus No Country for Old Men, Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, and countless other blockbusters. In total, his film productions have raked in over 150 Oscar noms and 23 wins over the years, while his plays have won him 17 Tony Awards.

But according the Reporter, the guy is an absolute nightmare to work with and people have only been willing to put up with him out of fear of being blacklisted in the entertainment industry.

Until now, that is.

Here are just some of the accusations being made against the 62-year-old entertainment mogul:

  • Sending an assistant to the emergency room after smashing a computer monitor down on their hand in a fit of rage.
  • Throwing a computer at a window in conference room while arguing with a publicist, then storming off to the office kitchen and destroying a napkin dispenser.
  • Throwing a glass bowl at someone during a temper tantrum that resulted in an HR staffer suffering a panic attack severe enough to require an ambulance.
  • Hitting an assistant with a baked potato.
  • Hitting another assistant with a stapler.
  • Throwing a teacup at yet another assistant.
  • Accusing an employee of theft in an effort to kill a job offer from a competing production company.
  • Scrubbing production credits from former employees as payback for quitting.

This isn’t the first time Rudin has been accused of awful behavior either. Stories of his abuse have been circulating for years.

A 2005 Wall Street Journal profile called him a “Boss-Zilla” and included similar war stories from employees, including claims of “caustic rants, shrieking threats, and impulsive firings.”

The profile also mentioned that he went through 119 assistants in five years, not counting the countless ones who never made it through the two-week trial employment period.

Speaking to the Reporter, Ryan Nelson, who was Rudin’s executive assistant from 2018–2019, said working for the guy was “exhausting and horrific.”

“Not even the way he abused me, but watching the way he abused the people around me who started to become my very close friends,” Nelson recalls. “You’re spending 14 hours a day with the same people, enduring the same abuse. It became this collective bond with these people.”

Rudin has not commented on the bombshell story or the fallout it’s had over the last few days.

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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