*Something clearly isn’t going right behind the scenes of CBS’ courtroom drama “All Rise” as several writers have quit the show over racism.
As an example, the New York Times reports that Shernold Edwards was one of three people of color to quit the CBS show after she grew frustrated at how “we had to do so much behind the scenes to keep these scripts from being racist and offensive.”
The Times story says that in total, five of the show’s seven original writers have left after going at it with showrunner Greg Spottiswood over the drama’s depiction of race and gender.
Spottiswood, who is white, is accused of ignoring their attempts to have the series more accurately reflect the experiences of people of color.
“All Rise,” in its second season, stars Black actress Simone Missick as an idealistic former prosecutor and newly appointed judge.
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According to the afore mentioned Shernold Edwards, a Black female writer-producer, there were multiple instances in which she thought the main character’s dialogue was stereotypical. When she expressed concerns about inaccurate depictions of a Black woman, she said she was asked why the character’s race mattered.
Black folk weren’t the only people of color that didn’t see eye-to-eye with Spottiswood. Sunil Nayar, an Indian-American writer who served as an executive producer on the show, also said adios after disputes with the showrunner.
Nayar came to the conclusion that he was just a token and had few responsibilities that matched his job title.
“It became clear to me, when I left the show, that I was only there because I’m the brown guy,” Nayar said. “Greg hired me to be his brown guy.”
The Warner Bros. human resources department launched a review last year following complaints from staffers. After the inquiries, Spottiswood was given a corporate coach, a Black woman, to offer him advice.
“As soon as we became aware of concerns in the All Rise writers’ room, we took steps to conduct a review of the work environment,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. “While the studio identified areas for improvement, the findings did not reveal conduct that would warrant removing series creator Greg Spottiswood from the executive producer role.”
In a separate statement, Spottiswood — who grew up in Ontario, Canada — said he is trying to become a better manager.
“When it appeared the writers’ room was struggling to function as effectively as it should, I recognized that I needed to change how I was working,” he said. “I voluntarily sought management training and leadership coaching.”
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