Hallmark lawsuit alleges that exec pushed to replace 'old talent' like Lacey Chabert, Holly Robinson-Peete

A former Hallmark casting director has alleged in a new lawsuit that a network executive once advocated for the replacement of "old talent" like 42-year-old Lacey Chabert and Holly Robinson-Peete, 60.

Per court documents initially obtained by PEOPLE, 79-year-old Penny Perry filed the complaint against Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly, Senior Vice President of Programming and Development Randy Pope, and Vice President of Human Resources Paul Hodgkinson, seeking a trial by jury and compensation after she claims she suffered and witnessed "ageist and ableist harassment" during her time at the company. She also claimed that she was fired after being told by Hamilton Daly that she was too "long in the tooth" to continue working at the company — in addition to alleging professional mishandling of her personal health conditions.

Perry alleged in the complaint that Hamilton Daly told her that, "We need to bring in someone (other than you) who knows more young talent," amid advising her that, “Our leading ladies are aging out. We need to find new talent to take their place." Perry added that Hamilton Daly further stated that the network's roster of holiday movie talent "keeps getting older and we need to find replacements for them" — singling out later in the complaint an alleged directive to "replace" the "old talent" like Chabert and Robinson-Peete.

“No one wants her because she’s too expensive and getting too old. She can’t play leading roles anymore," Perry recalled hearing Hamilton Daly say, adding that she said Chabert is "getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older," per the document.

When reached for comment, a representative for Hallmark Media tells Entertainment Weekly: "Lacey and Holly have a home at Hallmark. We do not generally comment on pending litigation. And while we deny these outrageous allegations, we are not going to discuss an employment relationship in the media."

EW has reached out to representatives for Chabert and Peete for a response.

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Both Chabert and Robinson-Peete have made multiple projects at Hallmark, with Chabert regularly partnering with the network as both a producer and star of holiday programming, including her new reality series Celebrations With Lacey Chabert and the 2024 film The Christmas Quest.

In addition to prepping her upcoming Netflix Christmas movie Hot Frosty, the Mean Girls alum is also currently in Canada in production on another film for the network.