Walter was a writer for STD (Star Trek: Discovery) until he was overheard using the dreaded N-word… in reference to himself.
Overall, I’m not a fan of the Innsmouth look. Wide upper eyelids indicates a very social attitude. Midly Soros-style lower eyelids, still not sure but am leaning towards chronic pain or Pure Evil. Wide lips is a talker. Inner ear cup pokes out past the outer cup, so he listens more to himself than others. Very faint eyebrows suggests a chameleon personality. And yet, conformist-narrow ears indicating against all the internal/social motivations.
A pretty good read for a professional screenwriter.
Author Walter Mosley Quits ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ After Using N-Word in Writers Room
By Lesley Goldberg, September 2019
Author Walter Mosley penned an op-ed for The New York Times, published on Friday, in which he revealed that he quit his job as a writer on a television series after he was “chastised” by human resources for using the N-word on the job.
Join the club. Yes, yes, we know you’re innocent. So were we.
Although Mosley, who is black, did not reveal which show he departed, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that it was CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery. That series, renewed in February for its third season with its third showrunner, has experienced serious issues of abusive language in its writers room in the past.
He’s a very light-skinned black. This point-and-shriek might have been accidental. Or, he had an enemy. Or, STD attracts damaged people what can’t be happy unless they’re ruining life for someone else. The story arcs and production history of STD favor the latter. Nobody with options should swim in that shark tank.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that season three showrunners Alex Kurtzman . who sources say personally recruited Mosley to the Discovery room . and Michelle Paradise were informed of the complaint via human resources but were not present for the incident in which Mosley allegedly used the N-word multiple times. Sources note that HR called Mosley to inform the acclaimed writer and novelist that typical use of that word was a fireable offense but there was to be no course of action taken against him. Instead, HR informed Mosley that a writer in the room was uncomfortable with it and effectively wanted to ensure he was aware of the studio’s policy.
That HR has waaay too much power. It was basically overriding the personnel decisions of the company officers. Which is almost the definition of a corporate “skin suit”. Shareholders obsess too much over profit margins to be woke.
“Earlier this year, I had just finished with the (FX channel’s) Snowfall writers. room for the season when I took a similar job on a different show at a different network. I’d been in the new room for a few weeks when I got the call from human resources. A pleasant-sounding young man said, ‘Mr. Mosley, it has been reported that you used the n-word in the writers. room,’” Mosley wrote in the Times. “I replied, ‘I am the N-word in the writers. room.’”
Hah!
Mosley went on to explain that the individual in HR said that while he was free to use that word in a script, he “could not say it.” Mosley then clarified, “I hadn’t called anyone it. I just told a story about a cop who explained to me, on the streets of Los Angeles, that he stopped all n—ers in paddy neighborhoods and all paddies in n—er neighborhoods, because they were usually up to no good. I was telling a true story as I remembered it.”
In fairness to Mosley, he self-censored “paddies” for his NYT opinion piece. I had to do research to realize I’d been victimized by a deplorable word instead of a sexual reference.
Mosley wrote that he is unaware who complained about his use of the word. “There I was, a black man in America who shares with millions of others the history of racism. And more often than not, treated as subhuman,” he continued. “If addressed at all that history had to be rendered in words my employers regarded as acceptable.”
Mr. Mosley, an honest, soul-searching question: do you think your accuser voted for Trump? Why or why not?
“There I was being chastised for criticizing the word that oppressed me and mine for centuries. As far as I know the word is in the dictionary,” said Mosley. “As far as I know the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence assure me of both the freedom of speech and the pursuit of happiness.”
Well, there’s your mistake. America declared independence from Christianity and passed the Constitution to emancipate women, coloreds, women, Communists, women and the coal they burn from the oppressive slavery of white male privilege.
Which now includes you, Walter, because Communism doesn’t work if it don’t have somebody to blame. I’ll go out on a limb and guess there aren’t any white cis-men working on STD plots in the writers’ room right now. The light-skinned Negro will have to suffice.
I used to point out the hypocrisy of blacks calling each other nigger while going gangster on anybody else calling them nigger. (Insert Rush Hour clip here.) Guess I can’t do that anymore. The N-word is off-limits to EVERYBODY! Equality at last! Smells like… book-burning.
CBS TV Studios responded to Mosley’s op-ed on Friday in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter: “We have the greatest admiration for Mr. Mosley’s writing talents and were excited to have him join Star Trek: Discovery. While we cannot comment on the specifics of confidential employee matters, we are committed to supporting a workplace where employees feel free to express concerns and where they feel comfortable performing their best work. We wish Mr. Mosley much continued success.”
Careful, buddy. Twist the knife too much and it’ll fall out where everybody can see it.
While Mosley did not say he was immediately threatened with termination, he ultimately decided to leave the show. “My answer to HR was to resign and move on. I was in a writers. room trying to be creative while at the same time being surveilled by unknown critics who would snitch on me to a disembodied voice over the phone,” he wrote. “My every word would be scrutinized. Sooner or later I’d be fired or worse . silenced.”
Sources say Mosley . who had been on staff for three weeks . suddenly stopped coming in to the Santa Monica-based Secret Hideout offices that serve as the writers rooms for Discovery, Picard and multiple other Star Trek shows. Paradise and Kurtzman, who previously dismissed two Discovery showrunners after claims of abusive language and behavior, later learned that Mosley had quit the series without so much as a call to explain what happened. (It’s worth noting that Discovery has a particularly inclusive writers room that includes three African American scribes, two Asian American writers, a Native American and Latinx woman, among others.)
That limb I went out on is solid as an oak. What, no witch doctor?
Mosley ended his op-ed by saying, “The worst thing you can do to citizens of a democratic nation is to silence them.” He elaborated, “And the easiest way to silence a woman or a man is to threaten his or her livelihood. Let’s not accept the McCarthyism of secret condemnation. Instead let’s delve a little deeper, limiting the power that can be exerted over our citizens, their attempts to express their hearts and horrors, and their desire to speak their truths. Only this can open the dialogue of change.”
The worst thing you can do to the citizens of a nation is giving them democracy, which means the worst thing you can do to citizens of a democratic nation is to give them what they want. In this instance, they wanted to silence you. It was you against one nameless accuser; how fortunate that “nice, pleasant” HR microtyrant was available to break the tie. A 2-1 vote means you deserved it, Walter! Democracy in action!
Star Trek: Discovery showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg were fired ahead of season two in June 2018. At the time, sources told THR that the duo . who replaced original showrunner Bryan Fuller . had leadership and operational issues that led to their dismissal. Insiders stressed that Berg and Harberts became increasingly abusive to the Discovery writing staff, with Harberts said to have leaned across the writers room table while shouting an expletive at a member of the show’s staff. Multiple writers are said to have been uncomfortable working on the series and had threatened to file a complaint with HR or quit the series altogether before informing franchise captain and season two co-showrunner Kurtzman of the issues surrounding Berg and Harberts. After hearing rumors of HR complaints, Harberts is said to have made imposing remarks to the staff to keep concerns with the production an internal matter. Harberts and Berg declined comment at the time.
Maybe God didn’t make Hell. Maybe He let us use own own imagination and multiplied by forever.
Use of the N-word in Hollywood has been a recurring subject as other executives, including former Paramount TV president Amy Powell and Netflix PR chief Jonathan Friedland, have been dismissed over use of the term in the workplace.
The article ends here. Sure, let’s read more! Since we’re settled in for a Friday evening.
By Kim Masters, 19 July 2018
Five years after being tapped to lead the newly relaunched Paramount Television banner, [President] Amy Powell is out.
The news was announced Thursday via an internal memo from Paramount CEO Jim Gianopulos in which he outlined “multiple individuals” who raised “concerns around comments” made by the executive in a “professional setting, which they believed were inconsistent” with Viacom’s values. According to sources, the comments included racially charged language. Sources say the inciting incident occurred during a studio notes call for Paramount Network’s First Wives Club reboot, which is being penned by Girls Trip co-writer Tracy Oliver and will feature a predominantly black cast.
Powell was accused of racial insensitivity in the context of overseeing a predominately black soap opera? Is there any way she could possibly have avoided all those ray-ciss land mines?
Powell, who is said to have been a favorite of Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, allegedly made generalizations about black women that struck some on the call as offensive. A complaint was filed to human resources, who with the legal department, investigated the claims and those involved on the notes call. Sources say Paramount considered discipline but decided to fire Powell after she denied the allegations.
“Having spent the past several days conducting a thorough investigation into this matter and speaking to those who were present, our Human Resources and Legal teams came to the same conclusion, and we have made the decision to terminate Amy’s employment, effective immediately,” Gianopulos wrote.
Stinks of dirty politics.
Hours after Gianopulos’ memo to staff, Powell denied the allegations in a statement sent by her personal PR: .There is no truth to the allegation that I made insensitive comments in a professional setting . or in any setting,” she said. “The facts will come out and I will be vindicated.” Sources say Powell is considering taking legal action against the studio.
Given the sudden nature of her firing, a search for Powell’s replacement will begin shortly. In the interim, Paramount COO Andrew Gumpert will oversee operational support, while Mireille Soria, Brian Robbins and Wyck Godfrey . presidents of Paramount Animation, Paramount Players and Paramount Motion Picture Group, respectively . will help lead the studio’s team.
Gaydar! Gumpert is a known protege of Harvey Weinstein at Miramax. I checked the others for political loyalties but nothing turned up. Eh, I never do well at following boardroom politics… but if I ever do, I’ll be rich and famous. And sleeping with Jimmy Hoffa, most likely.
So, did Powell win?
Amy Powell Reaches Settlement Over Her Firing As Paramount Television President
A month and a half after Amy Powell’s surprising firing from her post as president of Paramount Television, she has reached a financial settlement with her former employer, Paramount Pictures.
While details of the settlement are confidential, Powell’s payout from Paramount is said to be in the $4 million range. No one’s really talking specifics right now, but with the deal and a possible messy trial avoided, an individual with knowledge of the situation told Deadline that Powell is “very happy” with the arrangement.
Yay! She triumphed over an anonymous accusation of unnamed civil rights violations! How did she manage to do that, and in only six weeks? We should take notes.
Soon after her exit, Powell retained attorney Bryan Freedman who started preparing a gender bias lawsuit against Paramount and engaged in settlement talks.
*Gunner Q scribbles notes* Cry… like… a… little… girl. Got it!
But Walter was probably better off to simply quit with his dignity intact.