- Joel Coen and Frances McDormand denied witnessing disgraced producer Scott Rudin bullying staffers.
- THR reports that an ex-Rudin associate claimed the pair witnessed Rudin abuse staffers.
- “From my point of view, whoever is saying we did see it is not being honest,” Coen said.
Joel Coen and Frances McDormand have denied reports that they witnessed any bullying behavior by the disgraced film producer Scott Rudin ahead of the world premiere of their new film, “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
Coen and McDormand — who are also married — spoke about Rudin during an expansive interview with Deadline about their Macbeth adaptation, which Rudin had been set to produce before he stepped away from the industry following an explosive and detailed investigation by The Hollywood Reporter that detailed extensive allegations against him that included verbal and physical abuse of staffers.
“I think there isn’t anyone who works in the business who hasn’t heard those stories over the last however many decades that Scott has been working,” Coen spoke to Deadline.
Coen told Deadline that he had heard stories about Rudin and other industry workers, but denied seeing Rudin abuse staffers.
“I never ever saw anything like that from Scott. I don’t condone it, of course, but I never saw it,” He said. “From my point of view, whoever is saying we did see it is not being honest. So, that makes me skeptical of anything else that particular person might be saying.”
THR’s initial report on Rudin contained a statement by Eric Emauni, one of Rudin’s former assistants. He stated that McDormand and Coen had seen an example of Rudin’s alleged abuse. Emauni said the pair had been at Rudin’s office for a meeting and during the visit, Rudin “laid into [a female] assistant while they were there.”
“They sat there, [then] they continued their meeting. Right after that, she quit,” Emauni said.
McDormand denied that she witnessed Rudin’s abuse staffers, and she defended Coen and her reputation in the industry.
“I think the most important thing that Joel has said is that we have worked with Scott for many years, we have not witnessed his disrespectful bully behavior to his employees,” McDormand stated.
“And what Joel has just said, anyone that questions our reputation should speak to us about that. Because I think anybody in that industry would not question our reputation when it comes… we do not handle ourselves that way professionally or personally. So, I think that’s enough.”
The allegations against Rudin — who produced some of the most successful Hollywood films of the last decade including “The Social Network,” “Uncut Gems,” and “Ladybird,” as well as Broadway hits like “The Book of Mormon” — included claims that he smashed a computer monitor on an employee’s hand and fostered a work environment that was so toxic that people slept in the office and experienced hair loss and ulcers.
Rudin said he was “profoundly sorry for the pain” his behavior has caused in the statement he gave to Variety to announce he was to “step back” from his work on films, streaming projects, and Broadway productions.
“I take this step with a commitment to grow and change,” he stated.