Hallmark wanted to replace ‘old people’ like Holly Robinson Peete, Lacey Chabert for ‘younger stars’: lawsuit
An ex-Hallmark Channel honcho gifted the network a fa-la-la-la-lawsuit after the studio left her feeling not so merry.
A top executive from the cheerful channel is accused of trying to replace holiday stars like Holly Robinson Peete, 60, and Lacey Chabert, 42, because they didn’t want to cast “old people” as leads to appear in programs on the channel anymore, according to a new age discrimination lawsuit.
The entertainment powerhouse is accused of discriminating against aging employees both on and off camera in a suit brought by 79-year-old casting director Penny Perry, who filed her grievances in Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct, 9.
Actresses like Peete and Chabert have starred in several of Hallmark’s movies but the lawsuit claims Lisa Hamilton Daly, who is the Executive Vice President of Programming at Hallmark, wanted to freeze them out of festive films and bring in younger stars instead.
“Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” Daly allegedly said about the “Mean Girls” actress who appeared in some of the channel’s popular productions like “The Wedding Veil” collection and “A Royal Christmas.”
The suit alleges Daly also dissed “21 Jump Street” star Peete who appeared in nearly a dozen holiday films.
“No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore,” Daly is accused of saying.
The suit claims Daly also reportedly wanted to find replacements for Elizabeth Mitchell, Catherine Bell, Alison Sweeney, Autumn Reeser, Kelly Martin, Nikki Deloach, Rachel Boston, Brennan Elliott, Cameron Mathieson, Paul Greene, Eric Close and Teri Hatcher.
Former casting director Perry has over 450 casting credits and worked for Hallmark for nine years but filed the lawsuit after she claims she was unceremoniously fired because she was also too old and executives wanted to find “someone who knows more young talent.”
According to court documents, the fired casting boss, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is legally blind in one eye, failed to have a feel-good happy ending at Hallmark because she was fired weeks after returning from heart surgery.
Perry’s suit also calls out Randy Pope, Senior Vice President, Programming and Development at Hallmark, for allegedly “tormenting her regularly” and Paul Hodgkinson, the Vice President, Human Resources, for taking part in what she claims was “wrongful termination.”
Hallmark denied the allegations in the complaint and fired back in a statement.
“Lacey and Holly have a home at Hallmark. We do not generally comment on pending litigation. And while we deny these outrageous allegations, we are not going to discuss an employment relationship in the media,” according to a statement from Hallmark obtained by Variety.
Hallmark is premiering 32 all-new Christmas movies this year, according to Taste of Home. Perry isn’t listed on the casting team for any of the upcoming holiday films but is credited as a casting director for four non-holiday Hallmark movies released in 2024.
