Many actresses “of a certain age” find a second life and a second career for themselves in sugary cable programming, especially Lifetime and The Hallmark Channel programming. Both of those networks churn out small-budget movies and TV shows, usually about chaste, small-town romances and people learning the true meaning of Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter. There are plenty of actresses in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s who need the work and need a decent paycheck, and The Hallmark Channel helps those ladies. Except The Hallmark Channel’s head of programming suddenly forgot the true meaning of Christmas! A casting director has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Hallmark because she says she was fired for being too old, and that the head of programming constantly criticized the casting director for not finding younger actresses. Apparently, Lacey Chabert (42) and Holly Robinson Peete (61) are “too old” for Hallmark.

Hallmark executive VP of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly told her staff she did not want to cast “old people,” saying they did not fit with her image for the channel, a new age discrimination lawsuit filed against the studio claims. In the suit, Hamilton Daly is quoted as singling out Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert, who are 60 and 42 respectively, as examples of “old talent” that needed to be “replaced.” Both actors have starred in Christmas movies and shows on the Hallmark Channel.

“Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” Hamilton Daly allegedly said. Of Robinson Peete, she said, “No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore,” the suit alleges.

Penny Perry, a 79-year-old casting director, filed the lawsuit on Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court. She alleges that she was unceremoniously fired in April after nine years with the company. According to the complaint, Hamilton Daly repeatedly told Perry that she was “too long in the tooth,” and sought to have her removed as part of a goal of finding “new talent.”

“We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent,” the executive said, according to the suit. “Our leading ladies are aging out.”

Hallmark replied in a statement, “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.”

[From Variety]

I thought the whole point of Hallmark movies was that a 40-something big-city career woman returns to her small hometown and falls for her age-appropriate local bookstore owner who has a side gig as a mall Santa? Granted, I know Hallmark has tried to skew younger, but the audience is still women over 40, right? Don’t they want to see a TV movie about a 50-something divorcee buying a farm and discovering heartland values via a polite kiss from a local handyman?? Also: Lacey still looks like she’s in her 20s, I have no idea why she would “age out” of Hallmark movies. Holly looks great too, and she looks like she’s avoided Botox and everything else.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.