Defending Berman

I read Patrick Goldstein’s column, “Rumor Mill Feeds on Studio Turmoil” [Feb. 21], with great interest, and I feel compelled to dispel the impression given about [Paramount Pictures President] Gail Berman and her treatment of artists. As a writer who has had the good fortune to work with Berman on and off since 1991, I can attest to the fact that the quote from the “anonymous letter” accusing Berman of “insensitivity, rudeness” and “an unexamined loathing that lurks just under the surface when she deals with artists” is a complete falsehood.

Putting aside the mean-spiritedness of it all, the comments themselves are preposterous, as anyone who knows Berman can verify. Not only does Berman have great respect for artists, she adores them. I know of no producer or executive who has treated writers with as much respect and, dare I say it, affection for what they do.

ROBERT L. FREEDMAN

Sherman Oaks