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Former Apple exec Scott Forstall talks Broadway in rare interview

After years out of the public eye, former iPhone software chief Scott Forstall is back in the spotlight with a new interview that touches on life after Apple, as a Broadway producer.

Forstall was brought on as a co-producer of "Fun Home" —  which he announced on Twitter last month —  after meeting Broadway producer Carole Shorenstein Hays at a birthday party for Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, according to the Wall Street Journal. After Hays passed him the script for Fun Home, Forstall said he identified with the story and cut a check.

"It's about a real family with real love and real tragedy," he told the paper. "The family is so different than mine, but it still resonated."

In addition to providing financial support, Forstall has been heavily involved in the play's marketing. He worked on search engine optimization campaigns with ad agency SpotCo, and used his connections to involve several Silicon Valley firms, including Snapchat, Yelp, Uber, and Spotify.

The interview did diverge momentarily to ask Forstall about his departure from Apple following the Apple Maps debut fiasco, a subject on which he was politely respectful.

Forstall said he is "so proud of the thousands of people I worked with [at Apple] and with whom I remain friends. I am delighted that they continue to turn out great and beloved products."



18 Comments

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SpamSandwich 19 Years · 32917 comments

He's almost certainly restricted by NDA from saying anything directly related to his departure from Apple.

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rogifan 13 Years · 10667 comments

Good I'm glad he is happy and doing something he enjoys. I still think Scott being 'fired' was more to do with Tim Cook wanting a really collaborative and integrated executive team than anything else. Scott was the odd man out personality wise and the current executive team members get along with each other and work well together.

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yuck9 13 Years · 111 comments

NDA, maybe. Unless they are paying him then anywhere from 90 days to 1 yr is the norm. With everything changing so fast, he prolly has no more info on projects then the avg guy. Apple can't expect him to quit working in tech for the rest of his life. At some point in time the NDA will expire. Being he has been gone for a few years now, I'm sure he is free from any NDA from Apple.

rosujin 15 Years · 42 comments

I'm sure that the majority of his personal wealth is tied directly to AAPL stock value. Whether he works for Apple or not, he certainly wants the company to remain successful and doesn't want to say anything negative.

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MacPro 18 Years · 19845 comments

[quote name="Yuck9" url="/t/186208/former-apple-exec-scott-forstall-talks-broadway-in-rare-interview#post_2722165"]NDA, maybe. Unless they are paying him then anywhere from 90 days to 1 yr is the norm. With everything changing so fast, he prolly has no more info on projects then the avg guy. Apple can't expect him to quit working in tech for the rest of his life. At some point in time the NDA will expire. Being he has been gone for a few years now, I'm sure he is free from any NDA from Apple.[/quote] I'd agree and add I suspect he doesn't feel like bad mouthing Apple anyway. He is probably heavily invested and loves Apple products.