A former Hallmark Channel casting director has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the network, which claims Hallmark executive VP of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly told her staff she wanted to replace “old people” like Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert.
As first reported by Variety, Penny Perry, a 79-year-old casting director, filed the suit on October 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court. In the filing, she accuses Hallmark of unceremoniously firing her in April after nine years with the company.
The complaint alleges that Daly told Perry that she was “too long in the tooth” and wanted to replace her with someone focused on finding “new talent.”
“We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent,” the exec said, according to the suit. “Our leading ladies are aging out.”
The leading ladies mentioned by name in the suit are Robinson Peete, 60, and Chabert, 42, two long-time Hallmark veterans. According to the suit, Daly is alleged to have said, “Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older.”
Of Robinson Peete, Daly is alleged to have said, “No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore.”
In a statement provided to Variety, Hallmark replied, “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.”
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Perry, whose casting credits include The Jerk and The NeverEnding Story, also claims that Hallmark failed to accommodate her disability — she has multiple sclerosis and is legally blind in one eye.
She adds that she was pushed out of the network despite receiving strong annual performance evaluations. Perry alleges that her office was moved to a different floor and that she was excluded from meetings. She says after her firing, she was replaced by a younger man to do her job.
Daly joined Hallmark as executive VP of programming in September 2021. She previously worked at Netflix and A+E Networks.
Robinson Peete last appeared in Hallmark’s Christmas movie Holiday Heritage in 2022, while Chabert will star in the channel’s upcoming holiday movie The Christmas Quest, premiering on December 1. Chabert is also set to host the reality show Celebrations With Lacey Chabert on Hallmark’s streaming service.
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