Dear Unions, It's time to put Scott Rudin on the DO NOT WORK list

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter published an exposé of producer Scott Rudin's alleged(including this word for legal purposes only) workplace misconduct and extensive bullying practices. The piece included allegations of bullying employees and even throwing objects like a baked potato and a stapler at them. It’s been widely reported that this behavior has gone on for decades.

As expected, the article both shocked and outraged the entertainment community with many calling for swift action. Days later, the entertainment unions finally released a statement condemning Rudin’s alleged behavior and calling for action from studio heads to investigate claims of harassment and bullying and to hold perpetrators accountable.

“As organizations representing more than 200,000 members in the arts, entertainment, and media, we unreservedly condemn workplace harassment in all its forms," the union leaders said. "We pledge to work together, and with other allies, to hold accountable those who violate human and legal norms of fair, respectful, and dignified conduct in the workplace. We demand action on the part of our corporate counterparts to swiftly address credible allegations of harassment."

And that’s where I stopped and started to think, couldn’t the unions take action themselves and prevent their members from working on Scott Rudin projects until he steps down as producer relinquishes his rights from his current and future productions?

While I’m glad the unions said something, their statement didn’t name the person at the center of the problem(his name is Scott Rudin by the way) and simply passed the buck to another group that we know won’t likely do anything. They basically sent “thoughts and prayers” to all those who had the courage to speak out as well as those still trying to cope with their trauma.

If the unions prevented their members from working on Rudin projects, it could kickstart a domino effect that would end his power grab on the industry and cease his ability to inflict any potential damage down the road.

Imagine if Actors’ Equity said that no union performer can work on Rudin productions. It’s not like he could all of a sudden hire non-union talent to replace them in Broadway shows. Doing so would violate the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement between Actors’ Equity and The Broadway League. The same would apply to any regional theatre hosting a touring company of one of his productions.

The same would be for musicians working on his shows such as The Book of Mormon or West Side Story. If the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, could prevent Rudin from hiring non-union musicians to play his shows, and again, trying to might violate the collective bargaining agreement with The Broadway League.

If SAG-AFTRA pulled their members, where would Rudin get his big stars to be in his movies? With no big-name talent attached to projects, it eliminates Rudin’s power and ability to purchase the rights for properties. Who wants to sell a script to a producer who can’t get the movie made? No one would, that’s the point.

And to be clear, from what I can tell, the unions could do this if they wanted to. Both Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA have “DO NOT WORK” lists. These lists feature producers, venues, productions, etc that union members are not allowed to work at due to multiple reasons - one of which is that they are deemed unsafe environments.

Here’s a snapshot of Actors’ Equity’s current DO NOT WORK list.

Are any of these folks any more potentially harmful than Scott Rudin, given what he’s been accused of? It’s a good question. I don’t know the exact process it takes to put a producer on this list but I’ve been told it’s not as hard as moving a mountain.

As to why the unions haven’t done this yet? I’m not sure. They didn’t with any Harvey Weinstein projects when all of his allegations came out either. Maybe I’m 100% wrong and the union can’t do anything more than what they've done already. I’ll let everyone know that if it’s true. But maybe there are iron-clad agreements signed that ensure that folks like Rudin stay in positions of power in the entertainment world for as long as they want. I shudder to think if that true.

But if there’s not, and the unions could do this, why aren’t they?

I completely understand that given the pandemic shutdowns, any type of work in the entertainment field is valued at an all-time high. I also understand that any potential shutdown of a Rudin project will impact dozens of jobs, especially on Broadway. But what will it take for organizations like the unions or production studios or influential individuals themselves to do what they can to put an end to the damage being inflicted on their own?

If serial rape by Harvey Weinstein or alleged longstanding workplace bullying by Rudin isn’t enough for groups to take substantial action to remove these people from positions of power, I’m terrified of where that line in the sand lies.

We need more than typical lip service from these organizations. They are charging union dues during a pandemic shutdown of their industry, which means members are expecting that they will stand up and protect them from folks like Scott Rudin. They need to follow through, it’s too damn important right now.