Hallmark wanted to replace old people like Holly Robinson Peete, 60, Lacey Chabert, 42, 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 documen...