Hallmark Channel is known for their feel good Christmas movies that seem formulaic and cheesy to some but comforting and uplifting to many. The movies often include similar storylines such as a female executive from the big city going back to her small town just before Christmas and falling in love with the town and a handsome gentleman she meets there. While that isn’t the storyline of every Hallmark Christmas movie, it sums up a lot of them, and there’s comfort in the similarity.
There’s also comfort in the similarity of the faces we see on screen. Many of the Hallmark Christmas movies feature the same actors and actresses over and over again in their movies. Two of the actresses that have been featured in dozens of Hallmark Christmas movies include Holly Robinson Pete and Lacey Chabert, but according to a new lawsuit, it sounds like Hallmark wants to phase out these aging actresses.
Pete is 62 years old and has been featured in Hallmark movies for the past decade. Chabert is 42 years old and has made 40 movies for the Hallmark channel.
Now, FOX News reports that in former Hallmark Channel casting director Penny Perry’s lawsuit, she claims Hallmark told her that Pete and Chabert are “aging out” and that she needs to find “new talent to take their place.” Perry adds that she was instructed “not to cast ‘old people’ in Hallmark roles.”
In the lawsuit, Perry explains that she started working as a casting director for Hallmark in 2015, and in 2019 she was promoted to SVP of Talent and Casting. Then in 2024, at the age of 79, after returning to work following heart surgery, she feels that she was pushed out of the company. She was told, “We need to bring in someone (other than you) who knows more young talent.”
She claims that Hallmark offered her a pay cut and a cut in her benefits and gave her 48 hours to decide. Then they claimed she quit after turning down another job offer at Hallmark.
Perry’s attorneys, Lisa Sherman and Josh Schein, sent a statement to FOX News Digital explaining, “Penny Perry is courageous in seeking justice from her former employer. She is also grateful for the outpouring of support she has received. Unfortunately, Hallmark treated a venerable Hollywood veteran this way and we hope this action will lead to change in Hollywood and all work environments. Places of employment should be free of discrimination, fear, and harassment, providing and ensuring that all people are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.”
Meanwhile, a statement from a Hallmark Media representative claims that Pete and Chabert “have a home at Hallmark.” The statement continues, “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.”
Watch the video below to learn more about Perry’s lawsuit against Hallmark.
