Damon Lindelof & Carlton Seuss Accused of Maintaining ‘Lost’ Toxic Collection – Deadline

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A new book by Maureen Ryan that seeks to expose “patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood” targets the writers’ room at Lostas executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been accused of maintaining a culture of toxicity on the hit ABC drama.

in an excerpt from Burn it, power, complicity and a call for change in Hollywood (June 6) In Vanity Fair, Ryan interviews several people from the long-running drama that aired from 2004 to 2010. Those who spoke on the record, including writer Monica Oso-Brien, recalled an environment riddled with bullying and inappropriate comments. about sweat.

“All I wanted to do was write some great episodes of a great show,” said Oso Brien, who worked on it Lostthird season. “There was no way to navigate that situation. Part of it was that they didn’t really like their colorful personalities. When you have to come home and cry for an hour before you can see your kids because you have to let out all the stress you’ve been holding, you won’t write anything good.” after that “.

When asked to respond to allegations of bullying and racism, Lindelof told Ryan: “My level of basic inexperience as a director and president, and my role as someone who was supposed to engineer a climate of creative danger and risk but provide safety and comfort within the creative process — I failed in this endeavor.”

The deadline has also reached Lindelof, who declined to comment. Cuse’s representatives did not respond.

Actor Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson, told Ryan that the show was written off in the second season after he expressed concern about his character’s storyline. Perino was particularly upset with the way Michael seemed to not care about the whereabouts of his son, Walt, after the boy was kidnapped by the Others in Season 2.

“I can’t be another person who doesn’t care about the loss of black boys, even in the context of fantasy, right?” Perino said. “This only reinforces the narrative that no one cares about black boys, even black parents.”

The actor knew it would be difficult to bring up the issue with Lindelof and Cuse.

“That was the thing that was always hard. Any time you mention race, everyone feels — their hair is on fire, and they’re like, ‘I’m not a racist!’” Perrino said in the book. “It’s like, ‘No. Because I say I’m black.’” Not that I’m calling you a racist. I’m talking to you from my point of view. I’m getting really clear that I’m not trying to put my trauma on you, but I’m trying to talk to you about how I feel. So can we do that? Can we just have that conversation?”

Multiple sources told ryan that when perrino Lost A departure came, and Lindelof said the actor “called me a racist, so I kicked his ass off.”

“Everyone laughed” when Lindelof said that, Oso-Brien recalled to Ryan. “There was a lot of shit, a lot of racial shit, and then the laughter. It was ugly. I was like, ‘I don’t know if they were looking at this as a joke or if they meant it.’ But it wasn’t funny. Saying that was Terrible.” She began to leave the room when she could take it no longer: “I’m like, as soon as I’m done talking about people of color, I’ll be back.”

When asked about the Perrineau incident, Lindelof said, “What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold’s experience.” He “never” remembered saying those words about Perino. “And I’ll just concede that the events you describe happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anyone would make that up about me.”

Owusu-Brin also recalled how she and her writing partner were tasked with killing Mr. Eko, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. The actor wanted to leave the show and was eventually killed by the Smoke Monster in season 3 — though Cuse vocally desired a different ending.

Carlton said something to the effect of, “I want to hang it from the top of a tree.” Oh, my God, if only we could cut off his penis and shove it down his throat,” Oso-Brin recalled. At this point I said, ‘You may want to soften the pictures of lynching, lest they offend you. And I was visibly angry.”

Cuse responded to Ryan by saying “I never made that statement above, and that exchange never did. To add further to this lie and suggest someone was fired as a result of a statement I never made is completely false”, adding that the implication is “absolutely outrageous”.

You can find an excerpt from the book here.