Hallmark Accused of Wanting to Replace ‘Old People’ Like Holly Robinson Peete & Lacey Chabert
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.”
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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Anyone notice how much faster leading women get declared (too) "old" then do leading men?
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I'm a Lacey fan and never want her not to be in the Hallmark movies. I enjoy ALL
of the older actresses and actors. I don't care for the younger ones. I'm most happy with the ones that I'm used to!!
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I will watch any movie with Lacey or Tyler in it! Especially if they are together. Love them both.
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IMPO Age isn't the issue. Lacey C., Tyler Hynes, and some others are overused and not star materiall. I think Taylor Cole, Candace CB and others are too old to be playing ingenue role and jumped tp GAC because their days were numbered at Hallmark. "Youth must be served".
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Us “old” people like to watch them, you know. Why cant both old and young be served??
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It's a matter of Hallmark's target audience. Late teens to mid 49s is their demographic, and overusing actors in different roles doesn't build a fan base.
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They may want a younger demographic, but I don't know any young people who watch Hallmark, but I know a lot of middle aged and older women who watch everything on Hallmark.
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Did you ever notice that GSN and a lot of cable/daytime shows have mostly insurance or pharmaceutical ads? That's because mostly seniors watch them. Hallmark ads are aimed at viewers who are still in the game. It makes sense to get away from cougars and old boys in their casts.
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Old people generally have less disposable income to buy the advertisers products. TV is a for profit industry.
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Candace left because an executive she liked working with had left.
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Wow, I have no comment on the allegations, but I'm still stuck on the fact that Hallmark hired her at age 70. Good for them!! (And for her, of course.) Kathy Bates' Matlock character is right, that usually, once a woman hits age 55 or 60, she becomes invisible--especially in the working world.
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Tell that to the late Maggie Smith, Samantha Bond (premiering this week in The Marlow Murder Club mysteries on PBS), etc..
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Marlow Murder Club is FANTASTIC. Best movie on tv and incredible performances from all the characters..especially Samantha Bond.
Hallmark could learn from this mystery and Rosemary and Thyme, and My Life Is Murder, and Madame Blanc, Agatha Raisin.....
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Reboot The Snoop Sisters!
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IMO Lacey was always more sidekick material than lead. Tyler is too scruffy and rough for the parts he's given.
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what goes around comes a.....
to compete is a virtue, without depends? having 5 brothers and sisters and watching them blossom, casting their windmills not realizing that the ground was still not soft, means only ONE thing, BIGGER SEVEANCE, package.
then we need a federal statue that allows the big bosses to exit their position after a shorter time, the reason is that they lived with the thought that they enjoyed being YOUR PIMP!
welcome to the real world of poop!
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Missing your meds?
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