‘Lost’ was a gripping, groundbreaking smash, but the show evolved into such a toxic production that even co-showrunner Damon Lindelof now says of his leadership: “I failed.”
In a powerful excerpt from her new book, @moryan opens the hatch. https://t.co/keq0ngrD9U
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 30, 2023
In her new book Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call For Change in Hollywood, author Maureen Ryan reveals the show's troubled environment behind the scenes – one that enabled verbal abuse, misogyny, and several levels of racism.
Ryan consulted a number of sources, including Monica Owusu-Breen, a writer (and Black woman) who worked on Lost’s third season, said: “I can only describe it as hazing. It was very much middle school and relentlessly cruel. And I've never heard that much racist commentary in one room in my career.”
Examples of what went on:
- Someone who was part of LOST's staff was adopting an Asian child – only for someone else to say to another writer, “no grandparent wants a slanty-eyed grandchild.”
- Many LOST fans know actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a British Black actor who played Mr Eko. His picture was on the writers' room table, but someone was told to remove their nearby wallet “before he steals it.”
- Harold Perrineau, who played Michael, raised concerns about the lack of depth and development for his character compared to the white characters on the show. However, the show's producers dismissed his requests for more substantial storylines. Perrineau eventually learned that his character would not be returning to the show, and he expressed his disappointment at the way his character's storyline unfolded, perpetuating negative stereotypes. When he spoke out about these issues in an interview, he faced backlash and accusations of playing the race card.
- When it was time for Perrineau to depart the show, showrunner Damon Lindelof said, according to multiple sources, that the actor “called me racist, so I fired his ass.” Apparently, loads of people found that hilarious, and laughed at it as thought it were a joke.
- The writers' room had a cutthroat and boys' club atmosphere. Lindelof's authority was unquestioned, and offering any input or suggestions was strongly discouraged. This resulted in a lack of diversity and focus on white male characters in the show's final season, with characters of color often being shipped off the island or killed off.
- Exceptional episodes, such as "Ab Aeterno," were well-received but lacked Lindelof's and Cuse's involvement. Despite this, the latter would falsely take credit for writing most of the episodes. Lindelof once lied about writing most of Ab Aeterno, leaving the writer who worked on it – Hsu Taylor – devastated.
I tried to summarise it as best as I could, but the article is very long.
As someone who was once an extremely passionate fan of the show, I am shocked but not surprised. LOST received so much (deserved) criticism for how badly it treated female characters and the POC in its cast – so I believe every word of this tbh.