Hallmark Media announced that Lisa Hamilton Daly, who joined Hallmark Media in 2021 as EVP of programming, will leave the company as her position has been eliminated.
“Hallmark is aligning its consumer-facing touchpoints, including content, under a single leader, chief brand officer Darren Abbott, with a focus and expertise in the expression of the Hallmark brand to consumers — from product to experiences and now content, across multiple platforms. Darren has an innate understanding of the Hallmark brand and paired with his leadership and vision, will ensure our content aligns to the promise of our legacy brand,” the company stated. “In this move, the position of EVP, programming was eliminated and Lisa Hamilton Daly will depart the company. Lisa is an extremely talented creative leader and we are grateful for her many contributions to Hallmark Media including expanding our storytelling and characters in new ways.”
This development occurs three months after Daly and Hallmark Media faced a lawsuit from former casting agent Penny Perry, who accused them of age discrimination, defamation, and wrongful termination. Perry alleged she was forced out by Hamilton Daly “due to her age,” and the lawsuit also named SVP of programming and development Randy Pope and HR executive Paul Hodgkinson as co-defendants.
The lawsuit, filed on October 9, alleged that Hamilton Daly referred to Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert, aged 60 and 42 respectively, as “old talent” who needed to be “replaced.” Daly reportedly said, “Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” and of Robinson Peete, “No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore.”
Additional actors mentioned in the suit included Elizabeth Mitchell, Catherine Bell, Alison Sweeney, Autumn Reeser, Kelly Martin, Nikki Deloach, Rachel Boston, Brennan Elliott, Cameron Mathieson, Paul Greene, Eric Close (in terms of acting, not directing), and Terry Hatcher.
In response, Hallmark stated: “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.”