Well what do you know, something has finally been done about Scott Rudin, the ubiquitous entertainment industry producer who was revealed to be an alleged nightmare to work for by multiple traumatized former employees. After The Hollywood Reporter published their exposé on Scott’s reported behavior, I expected Broadway might be the first to turn up the house lights on his career and announce it was time for Scott to take an early intermission, if you will. Because the cherry on top of an already bad year, would be watching the audience cringe as they read the words, “Produced by Scott Rudin” in their Playbill. But Scott beat everyone to it, by acknowledging the allegations against him, and announcing that he was leaving several productions.
This news comes not too long after Tony-winning Broadway actor Karen Olivo announced they were stepping away from the role of Satine in the musical adaptation of Moulin Rouge!, in protest to what she perceived was a generally blasé response to the allegations. Karen can go ahead and slip back into her best period-specific corset, because she may return to the stage, guilt-free! On Saturday, Scott delivered a statement to The Washington Post, explaining that he’s sorry for any pain or suffering anyone might have experienced in connection to his behavior, and that he wants to see Broadway come back from COVID in a big way, and that he’s afraid he would overshadow that if he remains involved or connected to current productions.
“Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behavior caused to individuals, directly and indirectly.
After a period of reflection, I’ve made the decision to step back from active participation on our Broadway productions, effective immediately. My roles will be filled by others from the Broadway community and in a number of cases, from the roster of participants already in place on those shows.
My passionate hope and expectation is that Broadway will reopen successfully very soon, and that the many talented artists associated with it will once again begin to thrive and share their artistry with the world. I do not want any controversy associated with me to interrupt Broadway’s well deserved return, or specifically, the return of the 1500 people working on these shows.”
The Washington Post says they pressed Scott on what that whole part about “active participation” means, but he declined to elaborate on that. This means there is a chance that Scott could be working behind the scenes in secret, and that stepping back might just mean he’s ok with having his name erased off the poster. But that sounds like the kind of thing Scott would want to keep quiet about, considering his goal is asses in seats and not boycotts. As for what he was working on, well, he had nothing to do with Moulin Rouge!, so Karen doesn’t have to worry about choking down a paper plate of sheet cake at some awkward good-bye lunch. The Huffington Post notes that Scott was a producer on To Kill a Mockingbird, which was set to go on a national tour sometime in the future, and he’s a producer on The Book of Mormon, which has been playing on Broadway since 2011.
Scott Rudin was also set to produce an upcoming revival of The Music Man, starring Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman. Sutton addressed the situation yesterday during an Instagram Live event. She says that she’s glad Scott announced he was stepping back because it’s the only positive that can come from such an unfortunate situation. And Sutton might have gotten a little shady by tap-stomping all over the idea of blasting Scott Rudin on social media, because she didn’t want to make it a “reactionary thing.” via Deadline:
“I didn’t feel like I needed to post [about] it…I didn’t feel like that was something I needed to do because it becomes like a reactionary thing. For me it was I needed to take a step back and make sure the decision I made was mine and not based on the noise of social media. That’s who I am, that’s my integrity, that’s my spirit. I feel like the only positive outcome is the one that happened. I apologize if it seemed like I wasn’t actively trumpeting my feelings but I felt like with the noise I couldn’t get a clear mind.
I’m really excited about returning to Broadway and may we just continue the change and that’s all I’m going to say. It’s an unbelievably unfortunate situation but the only positive outcome is the one that’s happening and I know Hugh feels exactly the same way.”
Sutton Foster addresses the Scott Rudin controversy. pic.twitter.com/gnxrwd2JtE
— OnStage Blog (@OnstageBlog) April 18, 2021
So Sutton doesn’t want to talk any more about Scott Rudin, and that’s fine (and to be fair, it sounded like she was more interested in putting Karen Olivo on blast). But since Sutton has no further comment on Scott Rudin’s exit, I’ll pick up the slack. And I might make a joke about hoping the door doesn’t hit Scott’s ass on the way out. But based on all the allegations about Scott being violent to those around him, maybe I should hope that poor door isn’t the one getting hit as Scott leaves. I don’t know what the door version of the ER is, and I’m sure doors don’t have health insurance.
Pic: Wenn.com
