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Black-balling in Hollywood

What is it exactly? Do those who have worked with you lie and trash you to others? Or, is just understood that if you hire them you'll be on the shit list too 'cause they pissed off the wrong people?

by Anonymousreply 38December 26, 2019 4:05 PM

During the #METOO thing, one of the Harvey Weinstein stories went something like this:

Some actress whose name I can't remember was hit on by Weinstein, and she turned him down. Director Peter Jackson was casting a film shortly thereafter, and talked to Weinstein about possible female leads, and Weinstein warned Jackson that the actress in question was difficult and not someone he wanted to work with. So, another actress got the role, and the gal who'd turned down Weinstein wasn't even considered for a job, because of what Weinstein said about her behind the scenes.

This story came from Jackson, BTW, not an actress.

by Anonymousreply 1September 18, 2019 11:24 PM

enough about the Kardashians

by Anonymousreply 2September 18, 2019 11:25 PM

The Alex Pettyfer situation should be taught in acting classes.

by Anonymousreply 3September 18, 2019 11:36 PM

I can tell you exactly what it is. You pissed off the wrong person. There are people who you just know are blackballed. When I started in PR I was lucky enough to work for a boss who was pretty well connected. He taught me a lot of good lessons early and one of them was never, ever piss off the wrong people and curry favor with the right people to protect yourself if you do. That was why I liked envelopes for a famous TV producer to help them get out their wedding invitations, picked up dry cleaning, took people to LAX, picked them up...you name it. It worked too, I was on a network show setting up interviews for a local news piece. I had the actors and one producer (who was an attention whore) do some cute greetings to the anchor. The producer gave a sound bite similar to one of the actors. Turned out his was never aired. He was so pissed at me he wanted me fired, except the EP was the guy I licked envelopes for. I went to him and told him what was going on. He laughed and said "don't worry I will take care of it," So we have our weekly produciton meeting, the producer starts laying into me about how I don't do my job and he thinks I should be gone. EP stops him and says "is this because they didn't air your sound bite? That is fucking stupid, the kid is doing a good job, I don't want to hear this shit again."

by Anonymousreply 4September 18, 2019 11:50 PM

Ask Mo'nique.

by Anonymousreply 5September 19, 2019 12:04 AM

r5 perfect example. You don't piss off Steven Speilberg AND Oprah.

by Anonymousreply 6September 19, 2019 1:47 AM

r4: What if you hire someone that has been black-balled? If another powerful figure absolutely wanted to work with somebody who has, I imagine they wouldn't suffer any consequences for doing so. Or do they just stick together?

And who's Mo'nique? How did she piss off SS and oprah?

by Anonymousreply 7September 19, 2019 2:00 AM

This is the only kind of blackballing I'm interested in.

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by Anonymousreply 8September 19, 2019 2:30 AM

R4 lol what was the producer's reaction??

by Anonymousreply 9September 19, 2019 6:24 AM

r9 he was dumbfounded. He looked like a hurt puppy. Later he pulled me aside and said "well it looks like you have friends in high places.." I apologized to him about the mix up on the sound bite and told him it was not intentional. He never came for me again.

by Anonymousreply 10September 19, 2019 3:17 PM

R10

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by Anonymousreply 11September 19, 2019 11:46 PM

LOL @ R2

by Anonymousreply 12September 19, 2019 11:56 PM

Mo'nique probably deserves her own thread. In fact, I think she's had several.

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by Anonymousreply 13September 20, 2019 12:07 AM

Monique torpedoed her own career.

by Anonymousreply 14September 20, 2019 12:39 AM

R2 made me laugh out loud walking down the street.

by Anonymousreply 15September 20, 2019 1:11 AM

Are you still around, r4? If a big time director works with someone who's been black-balled because they really want to will he suffer for it?

by Anonymousreply 16December 25, 2019 1:07 AM

[quote] And who's Mo'nique? How did she piss off SS and oprah?

She was a character on "Friends," and she pissed them off by marrying Chan D'luhr.

by Anonymousreply 17December 25, 2019 1:11 AM

There is no list, it's a matter of reputation. Someone might blackball you but it likely won't stop other people from working with you unless you've done something heinous.

by Anonymousreply 18December 25, 2019 1:14 AM

Thanks, r18.

by Anonymousreply 19December 25, 2019 1:27 AM

Blackballing someone only works if the person in power is truly powerful. People trash talk people all day and it has no effect, but if a very powerful person doesn’t like you, you’re screwed.

To; dr, don’t piss off the wrong people.

by Anonymousreply 20December 25, 2019 2:33 AM

I have one story.

I knew a really dumb, really talented actor though local, semi-professional theatre. We all sort of wondered why he hadn't gone on to better things, television, etc. (Aside from an obvious drug problem...) It turns out that his agent had gotten him some regular spot on a children's show (if memory serves) and there was some question of him trying to cut the agent out of her fee. (Like he claimed he got the job before she submitted his headshot/resume.) Anyway, agents talk amongst themselves, and he never had another professional gig again.

by Anonymousreply 21December 25, 2019 2:51 AM

You should ask Jason Behr, OP.

by Anonymousreply 22December 25, 2019 10:45 AM

I know someone who was blackballed by a director because the director wanted him to shoot a pivotal scene in a completely different manner than was in the script. The actor refused because he felt it made the character out to be crazy, and it was based on a real person. He felt it would be a subversion of the script and slander of the real life person.

The actor was technically within his rights because it was a deviation from the shooting script, so the director didn't get the scene done as he wanted. The actor won the battle but lost the war because the director (who went on to become quite powerful) spent the next 30 YEARS warning people not to hire the actor. And for the most part, they didn't (the actor worked, but just here and there in lesser roles and TV when he'd been heading up features before).

So yeah... Blackballing is basically just trash-talking, but for some reason, people in Hollywood really take it to heart when somebody decides to smear someone else. Careers vanish. It's pretty chilling.

by Anonymousreply 23December 25, 2019 1:28 PM

Merry Christmas Bitches, Black Baller, and Shot Callers!

R23, question: Why do others take something like that so seriously? This is akin to experiences outside of the industry, such as working for one boss in a corporate environment who you just don’t click with, & and your career trajectory is best served by moving on to another firm. This has happened to pretty much everyone who has worked in a Fortune 500, or smaller corporations. The company’s HR department is not permitted, by law, to give the employee experiencing a challenging work relationship with a difficult boss, a poor reference. Only certain fuck ups, such as theft, fraud, violence, and sexual harassment, are not legally protected, and in California, at least, those are pretty much the only things which can be discussed by a former employer, when references are conducted.

It seems like blackballing in the entertainment industry, due to anything other than the criminal acts aforementioned, should be illegal. After all, acting is an actual job, and not sharing a similar vision with a director, should not be something that prohibits an actor from working again. This is the a job that puts food on one’s table, just like a regular 9 to 5, M-F job, in some office building in Century City, or DTLA.

Makes no sense to me, and I wonder why actors or other on entertainment don’t have legal recourse for something that interrupts their ability to earn wages in their field of choice. Or do they, and litigating/arbitrating this scenario, also just another thing, one understands, is just not done? Like a circle jerk in the 7th ring of hell, or something?

Hmm.

by Anonymousreply 24December 25, 2019 3:37 PM

I don't have any insight to offer, R24. I agree with you that it's ridiculous and wrong that you can destroy someone's career merely by telling enough people "they're difficult."

by Anonymousreply 25December 25, 2019 3:48 PM

R34, for the same reason freelancers working in corporate America have little recourse.

Once your contract is up, no one has any obligation to rehire you. And if someone asks your former boss if you should be hired and that former boss said something bad about you---how will you prove it? Could you get the person who asked for the recommendation to testify? No.

The legal recourse is there in theory, but a freelance worker--in whatever industry--are not able to to take effective legal action.

by Anonymousreply 26December 25, 2019 3:48 PM

What r25 said. They don’t care that much about someone’s actual reputation but if someone they like doesn’t recommend working with someone, it’s just easier to err on the side of caution. People take a lot of advantage of trust and goodwill in their work relationships. It’s not fair, but it’s the nature of the beast. Of course all is forgiven if you have a terrible rep but still make a lot of money for a lot of people, eg: Michael Bay

by Anonymousreply 27December 26, 2019 1:59 AM

Okay guys, but if someone powerful hires an actor who has been bad-mouthed and not recommended by another equally or more powerful Hollywood player, would they themselves suffer a backlash over it?

by Anonymousreply 28December 26, 2019 2:29 AM

When the Steve Jobs movie by director Danny Boyle was being cast, Steve's widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, called up people who had been considered for the part and told them not to do it, implicitly threatening them with the power she held a the largest shareholder at Disney. She called up Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale and put pressure on them not to do the picture. Rumor was Scarlett Johansson who was in the running for the part played by Kate Winslet was also coerced not to take the part. Laurene also called various studios which were considering making the movie to put pressure on him. Danny Boyle was also "threatened," and Laurene made such a stink about it that Walter Isaacson, who wrote the book on which the movie was based, declined the second installment of his fee for the movie because Laurene was making such a stink about it in a way that was damaging to his reputation.

Laurene is a uber bitch, nasty, entitled, cold and phony.

by Anonymousreply 29December 26, 2019 2:38 AM

For the benefit of R24, Laurene did not go through HR.

by Anonymousreply 30December 26, 2019 12:03 PM

R1. Harvey Weinstein told Peter Jackson not to hire Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino for LOTR because they were "difficult."

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by Anonymousreply 31December 26, 2019 12:17 PM

For the benefit of R24, there is no way Judd and Sorvino would have known what Weinstein said. They would have just noticed the jobs drying up.

Even if they did know what Weinstein said, to take action they probably would have to get Jackson to testify, which was unlikely (since their lawsuit would have confirmed what Weinstein told him).

by Anonymousreply 32December 26, 2019 12:49 PM

This is also why there are so many "he is gay" stories in hollywood. Producers, agents, casting directors, they all talk. If a guy puts out for a casting director for a role, that gets talked about. Unless the progress to A-list or maybe B..everyone one at a level that can get them a job knows they will put out. Gay or not (I know plenty of married with kids working actors who have blown or fucked guys to get roles). If there was ever a real men METOO movement in Hollywood it would be epic.

by Anonymousreply 33December 26, 2019 12:58 PM

OP: Blackballing is an evil thing which happens when people take offence over some caring casting cuddles, and taking a much needed break in the middle of making Bush Baby a STAR.

by Anonymousreply 34December 26, 2019 1:23 PM

There should be a term "white-balled": someone who is boring as shit but gets role after role because they fawn and ingratiate and kiss ass and srnd flowers.

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by Anonymousreply 35December 26, 2019 1:26 PM

Alex Pettyfer's exclusion didn't last very long. Looking at IMDB he's been busy, and now has leading roles again. Maybe not front rank, but getting there. Seems this tear away youngin learnt his lesson!

by Anonymousreply 36December 26, 2019 2:02 PM

[Quote] If there was ever a real men METOO movement in Hollywood it would be epic.

What are the odds of it happening?

by Anonymousreply 37December 26, 2019 3:24 PM

Well this thread is a lot different than I thought it would be from the title......

by Anonymousreply 38December 26, 2019 4:05 PM
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