"The Umbrella Academy" Showrunner, Steve Blackman, Denies Reports of Toxic Behavior

[JamesG]

"The Umbrella Academy" Showrunner Steve Blackman Denies Allegations of Toxic & Retaliatory Behavior
by Denise Petski
July 1, 2024


Steve Blackman, co-creator of "The Umbrella Academy", is denying allegations of “toxic, bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behavior” while serving as showrunner on the hit Netflix sci-fi drama.

The allegations by 12 former writers and support staffers on the show were detailed in a January 2023 human resources complaint, according to a report in Rolling Stone. They include a female writing team, one of whom was a new mother who returned from leave a month before her contract ended.

When the writers room was extended for an additional 10 weeks to complete the season, the female writing team’s contract, according to show sources cited by Rolling Stone, was not extended.




A spokesman for Blackman told Rolling Stone, Black worked with UCP’s HR department to ensure the women’s contracts were concluded “in full compliance with all policies and regulations,” and the decision was “solely based on performance and budget.” Blackman also denied any other allegations of retaliation.

Other allegations made by the former writers and staffers included a demand for “unwavering loyalty” by Blackman and that Blackman would reduce the roles or fire staffers who disagreed or pushed back against his ideas.




Blackman also was accused of comments that sources said were found to be sexist, homophobic, and transphobic.

In text messages provided to HR as part of the 2023 complaint, Blackman wrote to an unnamed recipient, “Elliot [Page] wants to come out as trans on the show. As Ivan. Oh my f—king God. Kill me now.”

But a representative for Blackman told Rolling Stone Blackman initially was hesitant because Season 3 scripts were already written and would require a tremendous amount of work to rewrite and his reaction was not meant to indicate he did not support Page.

https://deadline.com/2024/07/the-umb...ns-1235998462/

[JamesG]

"The Umbrella Academy" Boss Addresses Toxicity Allegations
by Rebecca Iannucci
August 9, 2024


About a week before "The Umbrella Academy‘s" fourth and final season hits Netflix, showrunner Steve Blackman and I are on Zoom together for an interview about the sci-fi drama’s final episodes.

On the day of our virtual chat, it’s been exactly one month since Rolling Stone published a damning report about Blackman, in which 12 former writers and support staffers on "The Umbrella Academy" detailed Blackman’s alleged “toxic, bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behavior” during the Netflix drama’s run.

At the time, Blackman responded only through his representative, who called the claims “completely false and outrageous.”




When Blackman and I are speaking, I give him the opportunity to comment further, and he takes it.

“I don’t believe it was accurate,” Blackman says of the report. “I’ve been in the business for 21 years, and I very much stand by my record and my reputation in this business. Especially the eight years I had on this show, which were wonderful. I’m proud of that.”

Blackman adds that the report hasn’t diminished his excitement for the new season — but that’s his final comment on the matter.

https://tvline.com/lists/the-umbrell...teve-blackman/