Carly Hughes Leaves "American Housewife" over "Toxic Work Environment"

[JamesG]

"American Housewife" Co-Star Carly Hughes Exited ABC Comedy over “Toxic Environment”; Investigation Led to “Positive Changes”, Show Says
by Nellie Andreeva
November 9, 2020


Carly Hughes has departed ABC comedy series "American Housewife", where she was a series regular for the first four seasons, alleging toxic environment and discrimination as reasons for her exit. Hughes left after the end of Season 4.

She was featured in the Season 5 premiere, the bulk of which was shot before the March production shutdown because of the pandemic. Beginning with Episode 2, her name no longer appeared in the opening credits.

“I was no longer able to work in the toxic environment that was created on American Housewife,” Hughes said in a statement to Deadline. “I made the decision to leave to protect myself from that type of discrimination. As a black woman in entertainment, I feel the responsibility to stand up for what I deserve, what we all deserve — to be treated equally. I wish the show well, and I am excited for a new chapter and to be able to pursue the opportunities ahead.”





According to sources, the allegations made by Hughes, the only Black series regular on "American Housewife", triggered an extensive HR investigation by ABC Signature, which also looked into other claims from production team members.

Following the probe, "American Housewife" creator Sarah Dunn is no longer an active producer on the show, Mark J. Greenberg stepped down as line producer, and showrunners Rick Wiener and Kenny Schwartz underwent sensitivity training.

“Carly was a valued member of the cast, and we had hoped she would return to the show this season,” a spokesperson for American Housewife said. “The concerns she raised led to positive changes to the workplace and improvements to the culture, but we respect the decision she made to move on. We wish her nothing but the best.”

https://deadline.com/2020/11/america...es-1234610754/

[Lorimar Television]

Wow this isn’t good...

[D-Dey]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Wow this isn’t good...

I agree. But at least they're not going to try to pass off another actress as her character, like they did with Anna-Kat.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by D-Dey

I agree. But at least they're not going to try to pass off another actress as her character, like they did with Anna-Kat.

Well, it's much harder to simply pull a Chuck Cunningham on one of the members of the Otto family (and by extension, one of the central characters). But this also lends more credence towards why Julia Butters may have actually departed. Looking at Julia's IMDb profile, she doesn't have any upcoming projects on the horizon. Think about it this way, why would an 11 year old abruptly leave an established sitcom that offered a steady paycheck? The notion that she simply left "to pursue other opportunities" just doesn't add up.

There is a blind item on CDAN saying that complaints filed by Julia against an older actor were never acted on by producers or the network so her parents pulled her off the show. But the narrative that has been framed at moment is that off the heels of appearing in the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she thinks that continuing on American Housewife is constricting her talents.