A new book by Maureen Ryan that seeks to expose “patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood” takes aim at the writers room of Lost, where executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are accused of maintaining a culture of toxicity on the hit ABC drama.
In an excerpt from Burn It Down, Power, Complicity and A Call For Change in Hollywood (out June 6), Ryan interviews several people from the long-running drama that aired from 2004 to 2010. Those who did speak on the record, including writer Monica Owusu-Breen, recalled an environment rife with bullying and inappropriate comments about race.
“All I wanted to do was write some really cool episodes of a cool show. That was an impossibility on that staff,” said Owusu-Breen, who worked on Lost’s third season. “There was no way to navigate that situation. Part of it was they really didn’t like their characters of color. When you have to go home and cry for an hour before you can see your kids because you have to excise all the stress you’ve been holding in, you’re not going to write anything good after that.”
When asked to respond to the allegations of bullying and racism, Lindelof told Ryan, “My level of fundamental inexperience as a manager and a boss, my role as someone who was supposed to model a climate of creative danger and risk-taking but provide safety and comfort inside of the creative process—I failed in that endeavor.”
Deadline also reached out to Lindelof, who declined further comment. Reps for Cuse did not respond.
Actor Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson, told Ryan he was written off the show in season 2 after expressing concern about his character’s story arc. Perrineau was particularly upset at how Michael seemed not to 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 missing Black boys, even in the context of fiction, right?” said Perrineau. “This is just furthering the narrative that nobody cares about Black boys, even Black fathers.”
The actor recognized it would be difficult bringing up the issue with Lindelof and Cuse.
“That was the thing that was always tricky. Any time you mention race, everybody gets—their hair gets on fire, and they’re like, ‘I’m not racist!’ ” Perrineau said in the book. “It’s like, ‘Nope. Because I say that I’m Black doesn’t mean I’m calling you a racist. I am talking to you from my perspective. I’m being really clear that I’m not trying to put my trauma on you, but I am trying to talk to you about what I feel. So can we just do that? Can we just have that conversation?’”
Multiple sources told Ryan that when Perrineau’s Lost departure came up, Lindelof said the actor “called me racist, so I fired his ass.”
“Everyone laughed” when Lindelof said that, Owusu-Breen recalled to Ryan. “There was so much shit, and so much racist shit, and then laughter. It was ugly. I was like, ‘I don’t know if they’re perceiving this as a joke or if they mean it.’ But it wasn’t funny. Saying that was horrible.” She began leaving the room when she couldn’t take it anymore: “I’m like, once you’re done talking shit about people of color, I’ll come back.”
When asked about the incident involving Perrineau, Lindelof said, “What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold’s experience.” He didn not recall “ever” saying those words about Perrineau. “And I’ll just cede that the events that you’re describing happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anybody would make that up about me.”
Owusu-Breen also recalled how she and her writing partner were tasked with killing off Mr. Eko, who was played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. The actor wanted to leave the show and was ultimately killed by the Smoke Monster in season 3 — though Cuse had allegedly wished out loud for a different ending.
“Carlton said something to the effect of, ‘I want to hang him from the highest tree. God, if we could only cut his dick off and shove it down his throat,’” Owusu-Breen recalled. “At which point I said, ‘You may want to temper the lynching imagery, lest you offend.’ And I was very clearly angry.”
Cuse responded to Ryan by saying “I never, ever made that statement above, and this exchange never happened. To further add to this lie and suggest that someone was fired as a result of a statement that I never made is completely false,” adding that the implication is “completely outrageous.”
You can find the excerpt to the book here.