Hallmark accused of wanting to replace ‘elderly’ Holly Robinson and Lacey Chabert

A former Hallmark Channel casting director has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the network, which claims that Hallmark’s executive vice president of programming, Lisa Hamilton Daly, told her staff that she wanted to replace “older people” as Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert.

As first reported by VarietyPenny Perry, a 79-year-old casting director, filed the lawsuit on Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court. In the suit, she accuses Hallmark of unceremoniously firing her in April after nine years with the company.

The complaint alleges that Daly told Perry she was “too slow” and wanted to replace her with someone focused on finding “new talent.”

“We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent,” the executive said, according to the lawsuit. “Our protagonists are getting older.”

The leading ladies mentioned by name in the lawsuit are Robinson Peete, 60, and Chabert, 42, two longtime Hallmark veterans. According to the lawsuit, Daly was quoted as saying, “Lacey is getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she ages.”

Of Robinson Peete, Daly reportedly said: “Nobody wants her because she’s too expensive and she’s getting too old. She can no longer play leading roles.”

In a statement provided to VarietyHallmark responded: “Lacey and Holly have a house at Hallmark. We generally do not comment on pending litigation. And while we deny these outrageous allegations, we will not discuss an employment relationship in the media.”