Days of Our Lives has reportedly paused production after an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct against co-executive producer Albert Alarr.
Representatives for both Peacock and Corday Productions, which produces the long-running soap, confirmed the hiatus to Deadline, days after reporter Nellie Andreeva broke the news of the nine-week probe—which reportedly included interviews with 30 to 40 people, primarily women.
The original complaint, reportedly filed by a female employee, alleged that women did not receive equal pay on the show, and that a round of layoffs in March had disproportionately affected female workers.
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In its initial report on Tuesday, Deadline noted that Alarr had received a written warning and had been asked to participate in “training,” according to sources. This reportedly did not sit well with the show’s cast and crew who knew of the allegations and investigation. A reason has not been given for the new hiatus, Deadline reported Friday, but production is now set to resume on Aug. 7, rather than July 31, as initially scheduled.
The hiatus, it should be noted, has nothing to do with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Daytime soap operas (in addition to unscripted reality TV, game shows, and news programs) operate under a different contract with SAG-AFTRA’s National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, also known as the Network Code or Netcode. Their contracts will run through July 2024.
Outgoing Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna—who starred on Days of Our Lives as Billie Reed from 1992-95 and has reprised her role multiple times since, most recently in 2021—spoke out about her experience with the show (and Alarr) last week, after news of the investigation broke.
In a now-deleted Instagram Story, Us Weekly reports that Rinna wrote, “Karma is a bitch.”
Rinna reportedly continued: “Well, this took a long time. … The last time I went over there and did that week on Peacock, I couldn’t believe the work environment. It was disgusting. I was shocked. I let many people how I felt—Albert included—and they didn’t do a thing until now it seems.”
Deadline reports that the problems with Alarr intensified in 2015, when he became co-executive producer; at that point, a “veteran” from the show said, Alarr “became much more tyrannical.” Another source told the trade, “Albert has a habit of belittling people, especially people he wants to put down.” Multiple witnesses told Deadline that Alarr’s directing style involved touching women in ways “no longer considered appropriate,” as the trade put it. The investigation also reportedly included events from years past.
In a statement to Deadline, Corday Productions said that it “engaged Sony Pictures Television, which distributes Days of our Lives, to conduct an impartial investigation into this matter. After a two-month investigation, the independent investigator produced a report with its findings. Based on those findings, Corday Productions has taken a series of actions designed to ensure a safe and respectful work environment.” (Deadline notes that Corday did not specify what those actions were, citing confidentiality.)
On Threads, Rinna expanded on the comments made in her Instagram Story, adding that when she returned to play Billie in 2021, “I was there for one week only.”
Even still, Rinna wrote, “I was shocked by the Hostile environment that it had become, and I was afraid for the young actors who had to continue to work there. I went to the producer I even spoke with Sony HR. I wonder where the union is in this and how was this left unchecked?”
