An executive at the Hallmark Channel wanted to replace Lacey Chabert, the studio’s reigning Queen of Christmas, because the 42-year-old was getting too “old,” Varietyreported. The studio’s vice president for programming, Lisa Hamilton Daly, told staff to stop casting “old talent” and to replace stars Holly Robinson Peete, 60, and Chabert, according to an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Hallmark casting director. “Lacey’s getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” Hamilton Daly allegedly said. She also reportedly called Peete “too expensive” and “too old” to play leading rules. In a statement to Variety, the studio denied what it called “outrageous allegations,” saying, “Lacey and Holly have a home at Hallmark.” After breaking out as a child star in Party of Five and then playing teen royalty Gretchen Wiener in the early-aughts hit Mean Girls, Chabert began appearing in Hallmark movies and eventually began producing her own projects. She has since become one of the studio’s most bankable leads, starring in 40 movies to date—many of them Christmas-themed. Other studios have also embraced her holiday appeal. She stars in the upcoming Netflix film Hot Frosty, in which Chabert’s character falls for a big-hearted snowman who comes to life—and who also happens to be ripped. Peete has also done her fair share of Christmas movies for Hallmark, along with a reality TV series about her family.
