Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman is pushing back on Apple TV+’s The Studio, not because he thinks it isn’t funny, but because he thinks it paints Hollywood executives as unrealistically clueless. In a recent interview, Rothman said each episode contains a “kernel of brilliant, blinding truth,” but argued that “besides that kernel,” the rest of the show’s depiction is basically “horses—” (his word, not mine), adding: “Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons.”
Rothman’s comments land because The Studio is designed to feel like it’s peeking behind the curtain. The series—created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, stars Rogen as Matt Remick, a well-meaning but frequently overwhelmed studio boss at the fictional Continental Studios, where every decision turns into a tug-of-war between art, commerce, and ego.
What Rothman actually seems to object to is the show’s running gag that studio leadership is constantly incompetent and morally compromised. He acknowledged that satire works precisely because it carries truth, but argued the series amplifies the worst stereotypes and turns them into the default setting for how execs operate day to day.
He also framed his criticism as coming from someone who can take a joke. Deadline noted that Rothman even referenced the series at CinemaCon earlier in the year, walking on stage and joking, “Hi, everybody, I’m Seth Rogen!,” a sign he’s not above laughing at the industry’s self-parody, even while insisting the caricature is too extreme.
Meanwhile, Rogen has been open about drawing from real Hollywood archetypes, and Entertainment Weekly reported that the show’s larger-than-life studio-boss character (played by Bryan Cranston) was inspired by a recognizable “media CEO” type. That mix of insider texture and exaggeration is basically the point, and it’s also why Rothman’s reaction is becoming part of the show’s conversation: real executives don’t love being told the joke works because they’re “morons,” even when they admit the joke sometimes hits.
