Photo: Walter McBride/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Aaron Sorkinis breaking his silence on his relationship with frequent collaboratorScott Rudin, who was accused of abusing his employees this spring.
“Listen, I think Scott got what he deserves,” Sorkin toldVanity FairThursday. “He’s lying flat on the mat right now, and I don’t know how it’s helpful for me to stand on his torso and kind of jump up and down.”
He later added, “The consequences came swiftly, and he sort of got the maximum penalty you can get for this.”
Scott Rudin.Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock
Sorkin said it was “painful” to readTHR’s report on Rudin’s alleged behavior because of his own connection to the story: “It’s pretty likely that some of those assistants who were being abused were working on something I wrote while they were being abused. So I took it personally.”
Caroline Rugo, former executive coordinator at Rudin’s production company, toldTHR, “Everyone just knows he’s an absolute monster.”
But Sorkin denied that Rudin’s behavior was an open secret, telling the outlet it was “a big shock” to learn of the alleged abuse.
“I’ll tell you that in a number of the follow-up stories that I read, you’ll see people quoted saying, ‘Everybody knew, everybody knew.’ And that’s ludicrous,” Sorkin said. “Everybody did not know. I certainly didn’t know, and I don’t know anybody who knew.”
While he denied knowing the details shared inTHR, he did say he’d had his “own experience with Scott” that was “a higher class of bullying.”
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“The stories that I had heard over the last 12 years were the kinds of things that — they could have been scenes fromThe Devil Wears Prada, there was no violence. There’s nothing physical at all in the stories that I heard,” Sorkin shared, adding that had he or hisTo Kill a Mockingbirdteam known, “there’s no chance I would’ve tolerated it.”
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In Rudin’s place, Sorkin brought in producer Orin Wolf, who he said is “doing a great job as captain of the ship now.” He confirmed that Rudin is “no longer compensated as a producer of the show” and is “not pulling the strings from backstage.” Still, Sorkin told the outlet Rudin “has a stake as an investor, which will continue to be honored.”
As for whether theinfamous producer will returnto Broadway or Hollywood, Sorkin said he’s unsure of Rudin’s future in the industry and said the two have not spoken since he dropped Rudin fromTo Kill A Mockingbird.
“Do I think there’s a comeback for him? I have no idea. I honestly have no idea,” he said. “I don’t know what he’s doing now. But I’ll say this: I hope he gets better. I feel the way I would with an alcoholic or an addict. I hope he gets better.”
source: people.com
