One of the common defenses aired by older men accused of sexual harassment, or even assault, is that their behavior was the style at the time. It’s not a particularly compelling argument; all they had to do was be somewhat aware or actually care about the discomfort of those around them. Or, in the case of Steven Spielberg, listen when someone calls them out for being bad (it should be clear, the filmmaker never harassed or assaulted anyone — he was just kind of a jerk).
It’s hard to fathom that everyone’s favorite director uncle Steven Spielberg could be a tyrant, but back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, he apparently wasn’t always a nice guy. However, it took producer Kathleen Kennedy, to give him the wake-up call he needed to hear.
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“Basically, I was a little bit of a hothead, impatient, and I would be hard on my crew — loving to my cast but tough on my crew,” Spielberg told THR. “And about 15 days into shooting ‘E.T.,’ she pulled me into her office and sat me down in a chair and gave me the bollocking of my life. Because she did not like the way I was talking to the crew. She didn’t care for my impatience, she didn’t care for my sharpness. She said, ‘This is unacceptable behavior,’ and I hadn’t heard that since a teacher in school or my own mom — and that was a big shift in my life. I became mindful because somebody I trusted and respected had called me out.”
It’s a pretty remarkable story, especially given the movie was Kennedy’s first producing credit; it’s not always easy to speak up, particularly when it means dressing down one of Hollywood’s biggest directors. Needless to say, Kennedy and Spielberg have since got on famously and collaborated numerous times since.
Spielberg’s next movie, “The Post,” opens on December 22nd.
