Lacey Chabert has been part of the Hallmark Channel’s “old talent” roster for years. That shouldn’t be a bad thing.
Though her acting career has spanned decades, she is best known for Mean Girls. However, her list of roles on television, film, and voice acting in animation and games is nothing short of intimidating.
She is also only 42 years old. That’s not really “old” by any realistic metric.
So why did an executive for the Hallmark Channel allegedly push for the replacement of her and other “old talent” on the network’s projects?
Is 42-year-old Lacey Chabert ‘old talent’ by Hallmark Channel standards?
According to a report by People, court documents reveal that 79-year-old Penny Perry, a former casting director for Hallmark, filed a complaint against multiple execs.
The bigwigs include Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly, Senior Vice President of Programming and Development Randy Pope, and Vice President of Human Resources Paul Hodgkinson,
Perry is seeking a trial by jury, and is seeking compensation after allegedly suffering and witnessing “ageist and ableist harassment” during her employment at Hallmark. Among other things, she described her own firing as following Hamilton Daly telling her that she was too “long in the tooth” to continue at Hallmark.
“We need to bring in someone (other than you) who knows more young talent,” Hamilton Daly allegedly told Perry. “Our leading ladies are aging out. We need to find new talent to take their place.”
As Hamilton Daly allegedly complained that the Hallmark holiday movie cast “keeps getting older and we need to find replacements for them,” she apparently singled out “old talent” like 42-year-old Lacey Chabert and 60-year-old Holly Robinson-Peete.
According to Perry, she heard Hamilton Daly say that Lacey Chabert was “getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older.”
What does Hallmark have to say about the allegations?
Obviously, many individual acting roles belong to actors within certain age ranges. Many of us have watched aging action stars in films and noticed that the plot straight-up does not make sense with that casting choice.
But there is a monumental difference between casting a specific character and suggesting that, purely because of age, an actor no longer has a place on an entire network. Even back during The CW’s glory days, older actors appeared in numerous supporting roles alongside the network’s relatively young leads.
Obviously, these are allegations. The jury trial will have to determine the merits of the case. If the allegations are true, one has to wonder why any executive would say these things aloud. After all, “we’re going in another direction” is a much more legally safe statement.
Hallmark Media issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly, affirming first and foremost that “Lacey and Holly have a home at Hallmark.”
“We do not generally comment on pending litigation,” the representative stated. “And while we deny these outrageous allegations, we are not going to discuss an employment relationship in the media.”
Obviously, Lacey’s career expands far beyond Hallmark. From voicing Zatanna on Young Justice to Mako in Star Wars: The Old Republic to starring in Netflix’s Hot Frosty, she has a diversified acting portfolio. But while Hallmark needs Lacey Chabert more than she likely needs the network, viewers would be sad to see her vanish from the network.
Ageism can be a huge problem for many actors
What constitutes a “young” star can be relative. That can mean anything from extremely talented child actors to stars in their 20s and 30s. That’s true for any gender of actor.
However, many women in the acting world find that they reach an age where they’re no longer “young” but aren’t old enough to play someone’s mom.
The entertainment industry, much like the rest of society, seems unsure of what role a woman could fill if she’s neither young and hot nor maternal.
That’s sad. It’s also gross. And you don’t see the same issue with roles for men in the acting world.