How old are Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert? Hallmark executive VP Lisa Hamilton Daly wanted to replace "old talent," lawsuit claims
Hallmark Channel has been hit with a lawsuit by 79-year-old casting director Penny Perry, on October 9, in Los Angeles Superior Court. According to Variety, the lawsuit had accused the company of "ageist and ableist harassment." Perry accused the company of firing her abruptly in April, after she spent nine years working there.
The former casting agent further accused the VP Lisa Hamilton Daly of wanting to stop casting stop casting "old talent" like Lacey Chabert and Holly Robinson Peete in their films.
Lacey Chabert is a 42-year-old actress who has been a part of several Hallmark Channel movies like Winter In Vail, Christmas At Castle Hart, All Of My Heart, Matchmaker Santa, A Safari Romance, Christmas in Rome, and Christmas Waltz, to name a few.
Meanwhile, 60-year-old actress Hollywood Robinson Peete has also worked in a number of Hallmark Channel projects. The list would include Our Christmas Journey, Christmas in Evergreen, A Family Christmas Gift, and many others. According to the documents obtained by Variety on October 23, Lisa said:
"We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent. Our leading ladies are aging out."
Complainant Penny Perry has been a casting director for several popular projects like Cocoon, Young Guns and The NeverEnding Story. The suit further mentioned that she is legally blind in one eye and also has multiple sclerosis. According to Perry, the company didn't accommodate her disability.
Hallmark responded and said that the actresses named in the suit have "a home" in the company
While the former Hallmark casting agent sued the company and accused them of ageism, the company responded by denying all such allegations. In a statement, reported by Variety, they said:
"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."
Revealing further about her termination, Perry said that she had received some very significant annual performance evaluations, before getting fired. Lisa Hamilton Daly who joined the company in 2021, was allegedly too quick to judge Perry as being "too old to work in her position..."
The complainant claimed that shortly after this, her office was shifted to a different floor. She was also not included in most meetings and projects in the company. According to Perry, a much younger man was hired in her position after she got terminated.
Shedding more light on her termination from the company, Penny Perry claimed in the suit that she was "ambushed." According to her, a virtual meeting was organized on April 10, 2024, which she allegedly was made to believe was a casting meeting. However, Perry later realised that she was getting terminated from the company.
SAG-AFTRA, an American labor union had previously fought against discrimination in casting on the basis of age. The union even got lawyers in California to prohibit IMDB from publishing actors' ages. The court, however, dismissed the law describing it to be "unconstitutional."