BONUS PODCAST

Inside the ‘Bully’ Culture of Hollywood and ‘Lost’

Mo Ryan, author of “Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood,” talks about vindictive showrunners. Plus, Kristi Noem is sad she can’t shop at Target.

When Lost actor Harold Perrineau was told his character on the show, Michael, would not be returning for another season, he felt like he was fired. The showrunners said the decision was based on a storyline conflict (the boy who played his son had what they said was a growth spurt that they couldn’t explain on the show).

But a toxic behind-the-scenes culture, as reported by journalist Mo Ryan, indicated otherwise.

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Perrineau’s is just one of the stories of Hollywood vindictiveness that Mo Ryan reports on in her new book, Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood, and she came on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal to talk about them in more detail.

She specifically tells co-host Andy Levy about the vindictive showrunners of Lost, and Hollywood’s horrific treatment of writers and actors of color, in general, pegged to a recent piece she wrote for Vanity Fair.

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“I understand that sometimes things don’t work out. Creative alliances or cooperation or collaborations don’t work out. That’s okay. But what we’re talking about is the ability to end people’s dreams and careers for reasons that have much more to do with ego and toxicity and bullying,” says Ryan.

And when it came to the Lost showrunners, “many people used the word vindictive,” she added.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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