A former Hallmark casting agent has filed an age discrimination lawsuit alleging that network executive Lisa Hamilton Daly wanted to stop casting “old people” like Lacey Chabert and Holly Robinson Peete in their films. Penny Perry , who submitted her filing on October 9 in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that Hamilton Daly — Hallmark’s executive VP of programming — cited Chabert, 42, and Robinson Peete, 60, as examples of “old talent” that should be “replaced,” according to documents obtained by Variety on Wednesday, October 23. In the suit, Hamilton Daly is quoted as allegedly saying of Chabert is “getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older.
” As for Robinson Peete, Hamilton is alleged to have said: “No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore.” Perry, 79, claims that she was fired in April after working with Hallmark Channel for nine years, and that two months beforehand, she had received a strong performance evaluation.
But according to the casting veteran, Hamilton Daly often told her that she was “too long in the tooth” and tried to push her out of the company as she looked toward hiring “new talent.” “We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent,” the suit quotes Hamilton Daly as saying. “Our leading ladies are aging out.
” Us Weekly has reached out to reps for Hallmark, Chabert and Robinson Peete for comment. .
