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May 31, 2023 · Before the Season Two finale was filmed, Cuse approached Perrineau and told him his character would not return for Season Three, the actor revealed. “I was f—ed up about it,” Perrineau ...
- Ariana Brockington
- Trending News Reporter
May 30, 2023 · Print This Page. Damon Lindelof says that he “failed” to provide safety and comfort as a co-creator of Lost, in response to a new book that in part chronicles numerous allegations of a ...
- Matt Webb Mitovich
- A new report details a slew of allegations against Lost co-showrunners Damen Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
- A Toxic Writers' Room
By Alex Stedman
Updated: May 30, 2023 11:17 pm
Posted: May 30, 2023 9:42 pm
Lost co-creator and co-showrunner Damon Lindelof admitted he “failed” to create a safe environment as a new book excerpt details a slew of allegations of a racist, toxic workplace on the set of the ABC hit.
The excerpt, from Maureen Ryan’s Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood, ran in Vanity Fair today and details allegations that paint the set, under co-showrunners Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, as “racist,” “sexist,” "abusive,” “cruel,” and “hostile,” adjectives that Ryan says came up frequently in her reporting.
“My level of fundamental inexperience as a manager and a boss, my role as someone who was supposed to model a climate of creative danger and risk-taking but provide safety and comfort inside of the creative process — I failed in that endeavor,” Lindelof said in one of his interviews for the book.
In addition to Perrineau’s struggles on the show, several others spoke of a toxic environment within the writers’ room, one that included racist and sexist comments. Among them, according to the report: someone saying to another writer that “no grandparent wants a slanty-eyed grandchild” in response to hearing about someone on staff adopting an Asian child, and a racist comment about actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje that suggests he “steals” wallets.
“I can only describe it as hazing. It was very much middle school and relentlessly cruel,” Monica Owusu-Breen, who was a writer on Season 3, said. “And I’ve never heard that much racist commentary in one room in my career.”
When the issue of Perrineau’s exit came up, multiple sources remembered hearing Lindelof say that he “called me racist, so I fired his ass,” to which “everyone laughed,” Owusu-Breen said.
“There was so much shit, and so much racist shit, and then laughter. It was ugly,” Owusu-Breen continued. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if they’re perceiving this as a joke or if they mean it.’ But it wasn’t funny. Saying that was horrible.”
Owusu-Breen also remembered pushing back against the violent death that Cuse apparently wanted for Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s character, Mr. Eko, who was ultimately beaten to death by the Smoke Monster.
“Carlton said something to the effect of, ‘I want to hang him from the highest tree. God, if we could only cut his dick off and shove it down his throat.’ At which point I said, ‘You may want to temper the lynching imagery, lest you offend.’ And I was very clearly angry,” she said.
May 31, 2023 · Perrineau said he brought up his concerns with the show’s producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, despite knowing how difficult it was to broach the subject. “That was the thing that was ...
May 30, 2023 · Lindelof acknowledged, as quoted in the excerpt, that there was "a high degree of insensitivity" with regard to the handling of Perrineau's concerns. Both he and Cuse cited the growth spurt of ...
May 30, 2023 · “I do not believe he is in any way personally to blame for the way his role changed,” said Cuse, who also noted that Perrineau’s feedback about that script was relayed to him by Lindelof ...
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What did John Perrineau say about his exit?
May 31, 2023 · In response, Perrineau claimed he was accused of playing "the race card." "The response from ABC was like, 'Oh, we always loved Harold, but he may be just angry that he left the show,'" he ...
