Lisa Hamilton Daly is missing at Hallmark Media

EXCLUSIVE: Missing is Lisa Hamilton Daly, who joined Crown Media Family Networks in 2021 to lead programming and development for Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and Hallmark Drama. Her position as executive vice president of programming was eliminated.

“Hallmark aligns its consumer touchpoints, including content, under the leadership of a single leader, Chief Brand Officer Darren Abbott, with focus and expertise in expressing 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, coupled with his leadership and vision, will ensure our content aligns with our historic brand promise.”

“In this decision, the position of Executive Vice President of Programming has been eliminated and Lisa Hamilton Daly will leave 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 new shows such as The way back with Andie MacDowell and Chyler Leigh, as well as new ventures with Hallmark mainstay Lacey Chabert, and a wave of exclusive deals with high-profile talent for the channel’s ultra-popular Christmas movies.

But that was also spoiled last October when former senior vice president of talent and casting Penny Perry sued Daly and Hallmark for age discrimination, defamation and wrongful termination claims. Perry, 79, alleged that she was forced out of the company by Hamilton Daly, “who wanted her out of the company because of her age and her complaints that the company was refusing to consider his life-threatening health problems,” according to the suit.

Randy Pope, senior vice president of programming and development, and Paul Hodgkinson, Hallmark’s chief human resources officer, were also listed as co-defendants.

The 37-page complaint quotes Daly as calling Perry “too long in the tooth” and “we need to bring in someone who knows more about young talent.” Daly reportedly told Perry that “our leading ladies are getting older. We need to find new talent to replace them.

Her remarks were apparently directed at Hallmark mainstays Holly Robinson Peete and Chabert, who Daly described as “getting older, and we need to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older,” according to the lawsuit. Chabert is 42 years old while Peete is 60.

At the time, Hallmark released this statement: “Lacey and Holly have a home in Hallmark. We generally do not comment on pending litigation. And while we deny these scandalous allegations, we will not discuss the working relationship in the media.”

Daly came to the company after successful stints at Netflix and Lifetime.