Yahoo Lifestyle Lisa Hamilton Daly Is Out At Hallmark Media
EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Hamilton Daly, who joined Crown Media Family Networks in 2021 to lead programming and development across Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama, is out. Her position as EVP Programming was eliminated.
“Hallmark is aligning its consumer-facing touch points, including content, under a single leader, Chief Brand Officer Darren Abbott, with a focus and expertise in the expression of the Hallmark brand to consumers — from product to experiences and now content, across multiple platforms,” according to a statement provided to Deadline. “Darren has an innate understanding of the Hallmark brand and paired with his leadership and vision, will ensure our content aligns to the promise of our legacy brand.”
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“In this move, the position of EVP, Programming was eliminated and Lisa Hamilton Daly will depart the company,” the statement continued. “Lisa is an extremely talented creative leader and we are grateful for her many contributions to Hallmark Media including expanding our storytelling and characters in new ways.”
Daly’s tenure saw the success of such new shows as The Way Home, Holidazed, Mistletoe Murders and Ripple (coming later this year on Hallmark+), along with new ventures with Hallmark mainstay Lacey Chabert and a flurry of exclusive, high-profile talent deals for the channel’s ultra-popular Christmas movies.
But it was also marred last October when former SVP Talent and Casting Penny Perry sued Daly and Hallmark for age discrimination, defamation, and wrongful termination complaint. The 79-year-old Perry alleged she was forced out by Daly, “who wanted to move her out of the company due to her age, and her complaints that the company was refusing to accommodate her life limiting health conditions,” according to the suit.
SVP Programming and Development Randy Pope and Hallmark HR exec Paul Hodgkinson were also listed as co-defendants.
The 37-page complaint quotes Daly for allegedly calling Perry “too long in the tooth” and “we need to bring in someone who knows more younger talent.” Daly supposedly said to Perry that “our leading ladies are aging out. We need to find new talent to take their place.”
Her remarks were apparently directed toward Hallmark mainstays Holly Robinson Peete and Chabert, who Daly described as “getting older, and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” according to the lawsuit. Chabert is 42 while Peete is 60.
At the time, Hallmark released this statement: “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.”
Daly arrived at the company after successful stints at Netflix and Lifetime.
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