https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/jeff-garlin-responds-to-talk-of-misbehavior-on-set

Garlin was responding to a rumor (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/124537-jeff-garlin-interview-where-he-addresses-rumors-of-his-firing-from-the-goldbergs/) that Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan was hearing that Garlin had been fired (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/r88rgc/no_i_have_not_been_fired_from_the_goldbergs_jeff/) from the ABC sitcom. "No, I was not fired from The Goldbergs (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/r888e3/no_i_have_not_been_fired_from_the_goldbergs_jeff/). I have not been fired from The Goldbergs," Garlin told Ryan last week. Ryan reports in Vanity Fair: "According to three former Goldbergs employees I talked to, Garlin—who plays the gruff but loving dad on the sitcom—allegedly engaged in a pattern of verbal and physical conduct on set that made people uncomfortable. (One of the sources said that those behaviors did not make them uncomfortable personally, but that they were aware that others found it demeaning or unprofessional.) In addition to using language some found inappropriate, sources said Garlin would touch or hug people whether or not they were comfortable with that contact. As one source said, 'He got away with it because he would call himself out for it—saying he was a big teddy bear, saying things like, "Oh you know me, just a big bowl of mush, I’m a hugger. I just love you."'" ABC declined to comment on Garlin's behavior, while Sony Pictures Television said “the well-being of our cast and crew is of utmost importance to us. This is an employment matter and it is being addressed by HR and production.” In the interview, Garlin admitted that "HR has come to me three years in a row for my behavior on set," adding: "I’m not going to go over it because I don’t want to, but basically a lot of things that I disagree with—that are silly. If I said something silly and offensive, and I’m working at an insurance company, I think it’s a different situation. If I, as the star of the show, demanded a gun range and on set, and I was firing guns every day and I was a little bit loose—to me, that’s an unsafe work atmosphere. If I threatened people, that’s an unsafe work atmosphere. None of that goes on ever with me. That’s not who I am. I am sorry to tell you that there really is no big story. Unless you want to do a story about political correctness." Asked about The Goldberg crew members who felt demeaned and disrespected, Garlin replied: "I gotta be honest with you. I don’t even know how to respond to that, because as a comedian, if somebody is offended by what I say I, all I can say is, I’m sorry. Okay? I have never physically come at anyone, for any reason, so that I find terribly confusing and untrue. Look, I’ve discussed this with the main crew. The camera department, the sound department, the lighting department, and all of these people who worked on my own movie—I did a movie for Netflix called Handsome—never have any problems. There was nothing. So whoever it is that feels this way has it out for me. That’s my true belief. I would never physically put myself to someone. And I would never hatefully say something to anyone." Asked about workplace boundaries, Garlin said: "It’s always the same thing. It’s about me and my silliness on set. They don’t think it’s appropriate. I do. That’s where we’re at. I’ve not been fired because of it. We just think differently. Now when I’m at Curb Your Enthusiasm, for example, if I’m not doing the things that we’re talking about, Larry David—or a cameraman, the producer, who’s a woman—lots of people come up to me and ask me if I’m okay. I need to do what I need to do to keep my energy up and do what I do. So I don’t know what to say. To me, if you’re a stand-in on a show and you don’t like the content or the behavior... If someone’s going after you, that’s different. But in terms of in general—well, then by God, quit, go someplace else." As for his future on The Goldbergs, Garlin said: "We’re trying to come to a place where we come to an agreement. Either I can behave the way (they want) or not. We’ll see, but I’m not being fired and I’ve not been fired. We’re in the middle of talking about what we’re going to do, but there will not be a firing. I will work more on The Goldbergs, just to let you know, I’m in contact with Sony. I will be shooting more days on the show. When I do shoot more days, just to make it go smooth, I will not be doing any of my silly stuff or anything, out of respect. I’m just going to keep it on the QT, because you know why? They’re my bosses. And they have every right to have the set be the way they want."

Jeff Garlin exits The Goldbergs after misconduct complaints sparked an HR investigation (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jeff-garlin-exits-the-goldbergs-hr-investigation-1235063600/)

Garlin and Sony Pictures Television have mutually decided that he should leave (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/rhj8lj/jeff_garlin_exits_the_goldbergs_following_hr/) the ABC sitcom, effective immediately. The Goldbergs cast and crew were informed of his departure during production Wednesday, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Garlin's exit comes less than two weeks after Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan detailed allegations of on-set misconduct from Garlin (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/jeff-garlin-responds-to-talk-of-misbehavior-on-set), who responded to the accusations in a lengthy interview with her. Deadline reports Garlin had one more day of shooting this season after a reduced schedule. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Garlin wasn't expected to return for a potential 10th season. This is The Goldbergs' second loss of a main cast member this year, following the death in March of George Segal. “There has been an HR investigation (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/rhj9lt/jeff_garlin_exits_the_goldbergs_following_hr/) on me the past three years. HR has come to me three years in a row for my behavior on set,” Garlin told Ryan in the interview published on Dec. 3. "As a comedian, if somebody is offended by what I say I, all I can say is, I’m sorry. Okay? I have never physically come at anyone, for any reason, so that I find terribly confusing and untrue,” Garlin said in the story when informed of reports that staffers on The Goldbergs felt demeaned and disrespected by some of his language and physical actions. Accusations against Garlin included engaging in a pattern of verbal and physical conduct on set that made people uncomfortable and screaming at the show's longtime stand-ins and putting his hands around a camera assistant and saying "vagina" after she filed a complaint over his repeated use of the word. After the Vanity Fair piece was published, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva says she was "contacted by a number of current and former co-workers of Garlin" (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/) who "spoke of a great work environment on the show where cast and crew members love each other, which would change dramatically on the days Garlin is on set." “He is extremely verbally and emotionally abusive,” a Goldbergs employee told Deadline. Reps for ABC, Sony TV and Garlin declined comment.

The Goldbergs will use Jeff Garlin's body double and visual effects for his face following his exit over on-set misconduct allegations (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/)

"As of precursor of what was to come, I hear Garlin canceled his Covid test on Monday this week," reports Deadline's Nellie Andreeva of Garlin (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/rhj8lj/jeff_garlin_exits_the_goldbergs_following_hr/) and Sony TV's decision (https://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/616342/garlin-leaving-goldbergs-behavior-issues) to mutually part ways (https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/the-goldbergs-actor-jeff-garlin-is-fired-from-the-show-after-complaints-of-inappropriate-behavior.4749419/) after the latest HR investigation (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/rhj9lt/jeff_garlin_exits_the_goldbergs_following_hr/) into his alleged misconduct on set (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/29904869-jeff-garlin-exits-%E2%80%98the-goldbergs%E2%80%99-following-hr-investigations-into-on-set-behavior). "According to sources, the show (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/5961-the-goldbergs-in-the-media-thats-incredible/page/3/#comments) used his double for what was supposed to be the actor’s last day, and his face will be superimposed using special effects in post-production. (That is practice used a number of times for Garlin in the past for various reasons, I hear.)" Andreeva also reports that executives delivered the news of the "elephant in the room" while celebrating the show's 200th anniversary. One person told Andreeva that "several people cheered" at the announcement. Andreeva also reports that ABC is expanding The Goldbergs' ninth season (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/122533-season-9-discussion/page/3/#comments) from 18 to 22 episodes. ALSO: Two years ago, Garlin dared The Goldbergs to fire him for his "silly" comments (https://twitter.com/mattwilstein/status/1471540501627084807).

Wow how long can that last?

Wow how long can that last?

I was reading the comments (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/#comments) in the Deadline article and some of them have shed a lot of light about what may have happened on the set from those "in the know". I'm not necessarily saying that I absolutely, 100% believe what's being said on there, so take it with a grain of salt.

Somebody first and foremost, said that Adam F. Goldberg chose to do nothing about Jeff Garlin's allegedly bad behavior in no small part because Adam was terrified of him. When you compare the Goldbergs set to the Curb Your Enthusiasm set, Larry David on the later show, runs a tight ship, looks out for the crew, and has no fear of upsetting actors.

In effect, Adam more or less, helped create the problem on his show's set because he did zero to reign Jeff in. Adam apparently, would just hide in his office and ignored pleas from the stage for help with Jeff. Basically, Jeff could do whatever he wanted as long as Adam was happy with his performance.

Again, I'm merely passing off what somebody else wrote in the comments (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/comment-page-3/#comments) in the Deadline article, so I don't have any absolute proof that this actually happened, but they claimed that Jeff Garlin once referred to Lea Thompson as, let's just say an offensive term for a woman that is derived from the phrase "See You Next Tuesday", when Lea was directing an episode of The Goldbergs.

Jeff Garlin railed against The Goldbergs during a comedy show three weeks before his exit (https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/jeff-garlin-leaves-the-goldbergs-comedy-show-1235137210/)

Garlin complained about being the subject of HR investigations on the ABC sitcom while performing at the Hollywood Improv on Nov. 24, the same day that he spent more than an hour talking to Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/jeff-garlin-responds-to-talk-of-misbehavior-on-set) about the misconduct allegations against him. "The common theme of Garlin’s comedy show was how much he did not like the sitcom," says Variety's Elizabeth Wagmeister, who was in attendance but not allowed to record the show. "He vented about how things have become too politically correct in comedy, and in a serious moment, expressed his concerns over censorship — like many other comedians have in recent years. Garlin said it’s not enjoyable for him to be in a workplace where he has to watch his every move and every word, and he felt like he’s on pins and needles. He said that he had been spoken to by higher-ups at the network about some things he had said, and specifically noted his shock that he can’t use the word 'vagina' when speaking in jest." (According to Deadline, when a female camera assistant complained about Garlin's use of the word "vagina," "he reportedly put his hands around her and kept saying 'vagina' in her face over and over again." (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/)) As Wagmeister notes, Garlin mentioned almost getting fired from The Goldbergs during his 2019 Netflix standup special, Jeff Garlin: Our Man In Chicago.

The Goldbergs will deal with Jeff Garlin's sudden exit by using unused footage and dialogue (https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/jeff-garlin-fired-the-goldbergs-still-appearing-murray-1235137484/)

The ABC sitcom was in the midst of filming its 15th and 16th episode of Season 9's 22-episode season last week when Garlin and the show mutually parted ways following an HR investigation over misconduct complaints (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/jeff-garlin-responds-to-talk-of-misbehavior-on-set). Variety's Kate Aurthur reports how The Goldbergs plans to film without Garlin. "While there could be a number of options for the creative team to address the situation, Variety has learned that the plan for now is that Garlin will indeed appear in the rest of the season — by using off-camera dialogue pulled from earlier episodes and unused takes, as well as previously shot images of Garlin," reports Aurthur.. There won’t be deep fake images, nor any face replacement: But Garlin will continue to appear in some form for now, which means the actor will continue to be paid, even though he technically won’t be working. Garlin will not film any new episodes of The Goldbergs, but his stand-in has already been used, shot from the back, in group scenes since his departure. Garlin’s stand-in has appeared in promotional materials for the show in the past, with the actor’s head superimposed on the other man’s body. Over the years, Garlin’s character has become less central to The Goldbergs — indeed, he was working only one day a week this season."

Well, the show is over.

I was convinced the death of George Segal was going to send it downhill. Now it's going right off the cliff.

What Jeff Garlin's Exit Means For The Goldbergs' Future (Will Murray Be Killed Off) (https://screenrant.com/goldbergs-murray-jeff-garlin-fired-left-why-season-9-future/)

Jeff Garlin has recently left the cast of The Goldbergs after misbehavior allegations. Here's what his exit means for the show's future.

BY EMILY CLUTE
PUBLISHED 12 HOURS AGO

Jeff Garlin's sudden departure from The Goldbergs raises some serious questions about the future of the hit show. Proceeding from this point will be a delicate matter for The Goldbergs. As the entire series is the life story of the show's creator, Adam Goldberg, making major changes that didn't actually happen in Adam's life — such as the early death of his father — can ruin the authenticity of the show. This makes the future of the show, and particularly the character of Murray, extremely uncertain.

Jeff Garlin's abrupt departure from The Goldbergs came after an HR investigation into his behavior on the set. Garlin maintains that he was not fired from the ABC comedy, but that he and Sony, the production company, had made a mutual decision for him to depart amidst allegations of his misbehavior on set. Garlin blames his departure on how "politically correct" the show required him to be — his "silly," comedic behavior was less than appreciated by HR. Garlin also recently made a few negative comments about The Goldbergs during a stand-up performance while comparing it to his time on Curb Your Enthusiasm, which likely contributed to his departure.

Ultimately, this means that the future for Murray Goldberg is far from clear. However, despite these complications, there are currently no plans to kill Murray off of the show. Most of the filming for The Goldbergs was already complete by the time Garlin departed — Garlin himself only had about a week left of filming for the season when he left. For the remainder of the season, The Goldbergs reportedly (via Variety) plans on using previously unused footage, off-screen dialogue, and body doubles to cover the comedian's absence. There will be no facial replacement editing or dramatic character write-offs; just a patchwork of previously obtained footage. Despite not filming any more new footage, Garlin will still be paid for these appearances in The Goldbergs season 9.

Currently, the hit comedy hasn't been approved for the 10th season. If season 9 winds up being the last of The Goldbergs — which Garlin himself believes it will be — it's possible that this method could be enough to get the show through to its final episodes. Garlin's role in the show in recent seasons has been minimal, so the replacement of newly-filmed material with a hybrid of new and recycled material. A body double has already been used for Garlin in promotional material before, so using one for group shots and shots from behind won't be too far of a stretch from what has already been done.

Garlin's departure isn't the first time The Goldbergs has had to cover a sudden cast change. Some minor Goldbergs characters have been recast and replaced over the seasons, and the death of George Segal — who played Adam's grandfather — in March meant the show was forced to write the character's death into The Goldbergs. At this point, however, it seems that The Goldbergs has no plans to kill off Murray in the wake of Jeff Garlin's departure.

Sounds like they're going to "Fake Shemp" Murray.

I saw Jeff Garlin on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune recently, and he was acting so obnoxious to the point where I was rooting against him so bad, it's not even funny.

Wendi McLendon-Covey returns to set of The Goldbergs after co-star Jeff Garlin 'immediately' departed the series following HR investigation for inappropriate conduct (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10372763/Wendi-McLendon-Covey-returns-set-Goldbergs-star-Jeff-Garlins-departure.html)

Joss Whedon and Jeff Garlin deserve credit for being candid about their workplace misconduct (https://www.salon.com/2022/01/22/joss-whedon-jeff-garlin-workplace-great-resignation/)

Whedon's New York magazine cover story profile (https://www.vulture.com/article/joss-whedon-allegations.html) by Lila Shapiro and Garlin's interview (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/jeff-garlin-responds-to-talk-of-misbehavior-on-set) with Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan were illuminating in how they each confirmed their bad behavior in the workplace, says Melanie McFarland. "Please understand, I am not offering my cheers in sarcastic celebration of Whedon's and Garlin's separate and unrelated authoring of their ironic reversals," says McFarland. "I really do mean to express gratitude for their unfiltered perspective on how they abused their power in the workplace. In both cases, the veracity of what they claim isn't as crucial to the larger societal discourse about worker mistreatment, ineffectual human resource departments and terrible bosses. The treasure is in what their words reveal about how such people think. As we reexamine the many reasons behind the so-called Great Resignation, that culture-wide trend of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs, one that bobs to the surface again and again is the end of our ability to abide thoughtless peers and terrible bosses. In November 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs, setting a new record high according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Polling suggests many left those old jobs for situations offering higher pay and better overall working conditions. Alongside that, more of us are assessing how our day jobs impact our quality of life, which translates to our willingness to put up with bosses like Whedon and colleagues like Garlin...The greater service in these stories is that they put voices, faces and a language to abuse and misconduct. They explain how it is that human resources departments and corporate overlords can claim to disagree as to what constitutes unacceptable behavior between managers and employees, or fellow associates."

I've been following this story and have mixed feelings. This has been my favorite live-action sitcom of the past decade and am very involved with the fan community. I've seen what TMC referenced about Goldberg being scared and kind of makes sense. I think he had at least 1-2 popular shows before the Goldbergs but the Goldbergs probably cemented his name in popular culture forever, whereas by the time Larry David started Curb he was already well known. The fact is, for many years men (and some women but mostly men) got away with this horrific behavior because people were afraid to speak out. I used to model and act a bit and guys have done some horrible things and got away with it.

I'm not sure they will cancel the show and I think the show can continue with Jeff Garlin. Also, people stating this is the end, possibly but would be a shame if it was canceled without a "final season" like Blackish (which I might add was always less popular). Instead what I predict is that ABC will announce it got renewed for a shortened final season and will be able to kind of spotlight Adam being in college and Erica and Geoff being married. ABC doesn't have a lot of shows doing well so that might play a factor, but looks like Abbott Elementary is going to be the next Goldbergs so what they might do is move Goldbergs to let Abbott anchor for Goldbergs last season. Hard to say.

Jeff Garlin (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/t5uvom/the_jeff_garlin_new_scenes_are_hilarious_spoiler/) Clearly Wasn’t In Last Night’s Episode (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/t58j1g/the_goldbergs_915_the_wedding_discussion_thread/) of The Goldbergs (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/122533-season-9-discussion/page/4/#comments)

QdrnW2W3_kI

https://content.invisioncic.com/Mptv/monthly_2022_03/FM76QnEVcAEEGX0.jpg.76ad7812faaedab0a869431c53fadd31.jpg

Yeah that looked bad

Yeah that looked bad

Jeff Garlin's CGI insertion into The Goldbergs "ain't working" (https://twitter.com/NoelMu/status/1503380010358427649)

"They should either cancel The Goldbergs or kill off Jeff Garlin’s character because the workarounds they’ve been using this season ain’t working," says critic Noel Murray, who posted a viral clip of a creepy-looking digital version of Garlin on a recent episode. Back when Garlin left The Goldbergs in December following investigations into his on-set behavior, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reported: "According to sources, the show used his double for what was supposed to be the actor’s last day, and his face will be superimposed using CGI in post-production (https://deadline.com/2021/12/jeff-garlin-exit-the-goldbergs-hr-investigations-season-9-1234892030/) for the episode, designed to wrap his character’s storyline. (That is practice used a number of times for Garlin in the past for various reasons, I hear.)"

The Goldbergs star Wendi McLendon-Covey responds to digitally inserted Jeff Garlin: "We're doing our best" since he "doesn't want to to be there" (https://tvline.com/2022/03/16/jeff-garlin-leaves-the-goldbergs-wendi-mclendon-covey-controversy/)

On Monday, journalist and critic Noel Murray posted a clip of a creepy-looking CGI Garlin, tweeting (https://twitter.com/NoelMu/status/1503380010358427649): "They should either cancel The Goldbergs or kill off Jeff Garlin’s character because the workarounds they’ve been using this season ain’t working." Garlin left The Goldbergs in December following investigations into allegations of his on-set misconduct. McLendon-Covey responded (https://twitter.com/wendimclendonco/status/1503803913874464769) to Murray's clip on Tuesday, tweeting (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheGoldbergs/comments/tfs3je/the_goldbergs_wendi_mclendoncovey_breaks_silence/): "Thanks for the great suggestion Noel! This season threw us for a loop because a.) it's hard to incorporate someone who doesn't want to be there and wants to leave mid-scene, and b.) we werent about to re-write the 2nd half of the season. We're doing our best."