The Days of our lives The cast is reeling after an internal investigation into director/co-executive producer Albert Alarr, who has been accused of misconduct amid staff cuts and layoffs.
The nine-week investigation looked into allegations of gender disparity in recent staff cuts among cast members, in which seven women were either let go or demoted to recurring roles, according to a report from deadline. Two women left on their own, speculated to be partly due to their experience on the show.
Meanwhile, only one male actor was fired. There were also complaints of only one female director for the five weekly episodes. Three full-time principals, including Alarr, also lead the charge, with a female principal part of a fifth-slot weekly rotation with several part-time principals alternating. General Hospital has four full-time directors, a fifth in training and three male directors.
However, some of the harshest complaints involve Alarr’s alleged behavior on set. Problems are said to have escalated after he became co-executive producer in 2015. Insiders claim he was abusive, leaving people uncomfortable and humiliated.
About a year ago, an alleged incident involving an actress was investigated while filming an intimate scene. The props department forgot to give her an extra sheet, leaving her feeling exposed on camera. Irritated by the delay, Alarr asked her to hurry up and make the scene more intense, using awkward acting cues.
The actress, in her early 40s, is said to have felt humiliated and told Alarr to leave, remarking: “F*ck you”. She reportedly continued filming in difficulty, requiring multiple make-up touch-ups. Alarr later reportedly apologized after a conversation with the stage manager, but the actress was eventually informed that she would be canceled from the show. Although she was offered to stay on as a recurring character, she was no longer under contract.
A longtime cast member said, “It’s kind of a joke that everything that comes out of Albert’s mouth is inappropriate.”
Another incident from 5-6 years ago was examined during the investigation. Alarr allegedly grabbed and forcefully kissed an actress without her consent at an event after the show won an award, leaving her terrified, according to an eyewitness.
After two months of investigation, during which Alarr received a written warning and underwent training, he remained in his co-EP and director roles, sparking outrage among cast and crew aware of the allegations and the investigation.
In June, amid on-set tensions, the producers decided to halt filming and extended the planned two-week break around July 4, with an additional week off starting June 17.
Sources close to the production point out that the extra week off was primarily due to a general scheduling decision, partly due to insufficient scripts caused by the writers’ strike.
In the last two months, Alarr’s presence on the sets has been reduced, according to sources. However, the exact reason for this reduction remains unclear and could be attributed to the ongoing investigation, the impact of the writers’ strike drawing attention to script generation, or some other factor.
Days of our livesStreaming, Peacock