HUH — I THOUGHT MAD MEN WAS AN EXCORIATION OF THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR: Emmy-award winning former Mad Men Writer Accuses Matthew Weiner of Sexual Harassment.
[Kater] Gordon, who won an Emmy for her writing on the AMC series, alleges that while working together late one night on Mad Men, Weiner told her that she owed it to him to let him see her naked. A year later, she was let go from the critically acclaimed drama — and hasn’t worked in the industry since.
“I had the Emmy, but instead of being able to use that as a launch pad for the rest of my career, it became an anchor because I felt I had to answer to speculative stories in the press,” Gordon told website The Information, which first broke the news. “I eventually walked away instead of fighting back.”
More details at Rolling Stone:
She said that while she had shared the story with confidantes over the years, she did not officially report the incident for fear of losing her job. She said she felt she was in a “lose-lose situation” because she believed he would “end her career.”
“I knew immediately that when he crossed the boundary that it was wrong,” she told The Information. “But I didn’t know what my options were.”
Gordon was made a staff writer for the third season and Weiner and Gordon won an Emmy in September 2009 for the episode they penned together when the alleged incident took place. But a few weeks later, just one year after the alleged incident, Gordon was let go from the series. She claims Weiner called to tell her that her contract would not be renewed. “He told me I was terrible at everything,” she said. “From my work in the writers room to on set.” She has not worked in the industry since.
Weiner’s PR team released the following statement, which appears in both articles:
“Mr. Weiner spent eight to ten hours a day writing dialogue aloud with Miss Gordon, who started on Mad Men as his writers assistant. He does not remember saying this comment nor does it reflect a comment he would say to any colleague. During the nine years he was showrunner on Mad Men, Mr. Weiner had a predominantly female driven writers room. He has long believed in and implemented an egalitarian working environment including the highest levels of production and writing based on mutual respect for all.”
And he’s no doubt ready to take on the NRA and Donald Trump as well.
There’s a line that appears out of nowhere in Brett Martin’s fascinating 2013 book Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad, which includes a profile of Weiner, among other cable producers, beginning with his days as a writer/producer on The Sopranos:
As a sitcom writer, Weiner had demonstrated a certain difficulty playing well with others, an ability to rub people the wrong way. He would later recount the story of one actor getting so angry with him that the actor literally kicked him in the ass and challenged him to a fight. (The Web site Splitsider.com hypothesized that the actor was Mark Roberts, who himself went on to become showrunner of the sitcom Mike & Molly.)
Upon arriving at The Sopranos, by then a well-oiled juggernaut, Weiner made immediate waves. He could be funny and charming, colleagues said, but also childishly underhanded. At times he seemed a classic bully: obsequious toward those above him, condescending and harsh toward those he perceived as having less power to help or harm him. After one confrontation, costume designer Juliet Polcsa began carrying a minicassette recorder to tape her interactions with Weiner.
Seems a safe bet that moving forward, there will be much more surreptitious recording in Hollywood.
Incidentally, this 2016 Deadline: Hollywood headline sure takes on added impact in light of recent events: ‘Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner Returning To TV With Amazon Series From Weinstein Company.