A new bombshell Lost report details the show's toxic behind-the-scenes culture over a decade after it ended. Co-created by Damon Lindelof, Lost follows the survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island with a large ensemble cast that included Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Ian Somerhalder, Maggie Grace, Harold Perrineau, Malcolm David Kelley, Terry O'Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, and Dominic Monaghan. Aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010, Lost was a smash hit over six seasons, though the show apparently suffered a toxic culture behind the scenes.
An investigative report by Vanity Fair spoke to over a dozen people who worked on Lost in various roles, many of them women and people of color, who detailed a dark and complicated culture. Perrineau, who was temporarily written off the show after season 2, clashed with the showrunners because he didn't think Lost respected its characters of color. On Perrineau's departure, Lindelof reportedly said the actor “called me racist, so I fired his ass,” though the co-creator does not recall saying that. Read a portion of what Lost writer Monica Owusu-Breen and Lindelof said about the show's toxic culture below:
Owusu-Breen: Everyone laughed [when Lindelof said that]. There was so much sh*t, and so much racist sh*t, and then laughter. It was ugly. I was like, "I don’t know if they’re perceiving this as a joke or if they mean it." But it wasn’t funny. Saying that was horrible.” I’m like, once you’re done talking sh*t about people of color, I’ll come back. My writing partner was told, "The problem is, you don’t think racism is funny."
Lindelof: My level of fundamental inexperience as a manager and a boss, my role as someone who was supposed to model a climate of creative danger and risk-taking but provide safety and comfort inside of the creative process—I failed in that endeavor. [That’s] what I saw in the business around me. And so I was like, okay, as long as there are one or two [writers] who don’t look and think exactly like me, then, then I’m okay. I came to learn that was even worse. For those specific individuals, forget about the ethics or the morality involved around that decision, but just talking about the human effect of being the only woman or the only person of color and how you are treated and othered—I was a part of that, a thousand percent.
Breaking Down The Bombshell Lost Report
Though the report includes many specific alleged incidents of racism and sexism, the crux of the issue is that Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof seemed to foster this culture of toxic behavior. Perrineau claims that Lost's mistreatment of its characters of color went beyond its story, and during promotional photo shoots for the show, actors of color were often segregated to the back row or at the edges of the frame. Lost employee Gretchen details an autocratic workplace environment in which co-showrunners Lindelof and Carlton Cuse wielded enormous power with very little oversight, which they allegedly abused on numerous occasions.
In addition to all the allegations against Lindelof, the report also includes a mea culpa of sorts from the co-creator. Regarding all the toxicity behind the scenes, Lindelof admits, "I failed in that endeavor,” which he attributes to his inexperience as a boss at the time. However, Lindelof says he has no memory of any of the incidents his co-workers accuse him of, including the remark he made about Perrineau. The full untold story about Lost's toxic culture can be read in the forthcoming book, Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood by Maureen Ryan.
Source: Vanity Fair