Aaron Sorkin: Broadway Producer Scott Rudin ‘Got What He Deserved’

Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and writer of the lauded Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, opened up to Vanity Fair about removing Scott Rudin, the disgraced powerhouse producer, from the show. Sorkin said “there was only one conversation” he had with Rudin in the wake of the explosive Hollywood Reporter story about Rudin’s physical and verbal abuse of his staff. Over Zoom, according to Sorkin, he and To Kill a Mockingbird’s director made it clear “Scott would no longer have any relationship” to the show. Rudin is “not pulling the strings from backstage” but still “has a stake as an investor, which will continue to be honored,” he said.

“Listen, I think Scott got what he deserves,” Sorkin said, when Vanity Fair pushed him to elaborate on what he saw Rudin do. “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.” Rudin and Sorkin have been frequent collaborators on films like The Social Network, Steve Jobs, and Moneyball. Sorkin said it “was painful” to read the Hollywood Reporter expose. “I took it personally,” he said.