An ex-Hallmark Channel honcho gifted the community a fa-la-la-la-lawsuit after the studio left her feeling not so merry.
A prime govt from the cheerful channel is accused of attempting to switch vacation stars like Holly Robinson Peete, 60, and Lacey Chabert, 42, as a result of they didn’t wish to solid “outdated folks” as results in seem in packages on the channel anymore, in line with a brand new age discrimination lawsuit.
The leisure powerhouse is accused of discriminating in opposition to growing old staff each on and off digital camera in a swimsuit introduced by 79-year-old casting director Penny Perry, who filed her grievances in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom on Oct, 9.
Actresses like Peete and Chabert have starred in a number of of Hallmark’s motion pictures however the lawsuit claims Lisa Hamilton Daly, who’s the Government Vice President of Programming at Hallmark, wished to freeze them out of festive movies and usher in youthful stars as an alternative.
“Lacey’s getting older and we have now to search out somebody like her to switch her as she will get older,” Daly allegedly mentioned in regards to the “Imply Women” actress who appeared in a few of the channel’s standard productions like “The Wedding ceremony Veil” assortment and “A Royal Christmas.”
The swimsuit alleges Daly additionally dissed “21 Soar Road” star Peete who appeared in almost a dozen vacation movies.
“Nobody desires her as a result of she’s too costly and getting too outdated. She will be able to’t play main roles anymore,” Daly is accused of claiming.
The swimsuit claims Daly additionally reportedly wished to search out replacements for Elizabeth Mitchell, Catherine Bell, Alison Sweeney, Autumn Reeser, Kelly Martin, Nikki Deloach, Rachel Boston, Brennan Elliott, Cameron Mathieson, Paul Greene, Eric Shut and Teri Hatcher.
Former casting director Perry has over 450 casting credit and labored for Hallmark for 9 years however filed the lawsuit after she claims she was unceremoniously fired as a result of she was additionally too outdated and executives wished to search out “somebody who is aware of extra younger expertise.”
In keeping with court docket paperwork, the fired casting boss, who suffers from a number of sclerosis and is legally blind in a single eye, didn’t have a feel-good pleased ending at Hallmark as a result of she was fired weeks after getting back from coronary heart surgical procedure.
Perry’s swimsuit additionally calls out Randy Pope, Senior Vice President, Programming and Improvement at Hallmark, for allegedly “tormenting her usually” and Paul Hodgkinson, the Vice President, Human Assets, for participating in what she claims was “wrongful termination.”
Hallmark denied the allegations within the grievance and fired again in a press release.
“Lacey and Holly have a house at Hallmark. We don’t usually touch upon pending litigation. And whereas we deny these outrageous allegations, we aren’t going to debate an employment relationship within the media,” in line with a press release from Hallmark obtained by Selection.
Hallmark is premiering 32 all-new Christmas motion pictures this yr, in line with Style of House. Perry isn’t listed on the casting crew for any of the upcoming vacation movies however is credited as a casting director for 4 non-holiday Hallmark motion pictures launched in 2024.