Lacey Chabert has finally addressed the shady chatter surrounding her age. She and Holly Robinson Peete were namedropped in an age discrimination lawsuit against Hallmark, which was initiated by Penny Perry, a former casting director for the network. To support her personal claims of age discrimination, Perry claimed that Lisa Hamilton Daly, who oversees programming for the network, wasn’t a fan of highlighting the aforementioned actors any further because of their ages. Chabert is 42, while Peete is 60. “Our leading ladies are aging out. We need to find new talent to take their place,” Daly allegedly told Perry, per The Independent. “Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older.” Perry also claimed that Daly felt Peete couldn’t “play leading roles anymore” not only because of her age but also her salary demands.
Hallmark then assured fans that Chabert and Peete both “have a home at Hallmark,” but social media immediately rallied around the stars — especially Chabert, whose Hallmark catalog dates back to the 2010s. “Lacey Chabert is gorgeous, looking good, and you’re damned lucky to have her, if she’ll still have you,” commented one fan on Reddit, alongside a much lengthier takedown of the network. “Lacey is too iconic [to] be replaced. She’s the real star of Hallmark. I love her movies,” wrote a second fan.” Meanwhile, another pointed out the egregiousness of Chabert being mentioned in a conversation about age. “Since when is 42 old? Of course it’s getting older but it’s not ancient ffs …” commented another fan.
Now Chabert has chimed into the conversation as well.
Lacey Chabert champions stories for all age groups
Hallmark may have a shady past, but Lacey Chabert took the classy route when addressing the network’s unconfirmed feelings about her age. During her press rounds for “Hot Frosty,” a Christmas rom-com for Netflix, Chabert (one Hallmark star who’s obsessed with Christmas in real life), opened up about the importance of age representation in media. “I think it’s important that we have the opportunity to tell all of our stories through every phase of life,” Chabert shared with Variety. “I have so much that I hope to share with my audience.” She continued, “Now I’m a mother, and it’s the experience of raising a daughter. It’s so important to me to portray characters that she, as a younger generation, can also look up to …” She also revealed that she infused her authentic heart into her projects.
In the meantime, Chabert has been enjoying her other projects outside of the Hallmark network. During a new interview with People, Chabert revealed the immense joy she felt while filming “Hot Frosty.” “Craig Robinson, Joe Lo Truglio, Lauren Holly, Katy Mixon — everybody’s just so, so funny, and we had such a blast on set,” she shared. “It was just a really joyful environment.” She continued, “I’m the worst at not laughing when you’re not supposed to. So there were many a take that I accidentally ruined because I broke and laughed.” Chabert also spoke about how the cast’s camaraderie impacted the finished product. “You know what? That joy that’s created on set when you’re entertaining each other, I really think that is infectious and comes through the screen,” she added.
Kudos to Chabert for taking the high road! Also, let’s hope this lawsuit doesn’t turn into another of Hallmark’s biggest scandals.
