Law & Order: SVU showrunner David Graziano is accused of mistreating women on set

Law & Order: SVU showrunner David Graziano has been accused of mistreating women and creating a ‘super toxic’ workplace on his sets.

Graziano, who took over as showrunner over the summer, oversaw the record-breaking season 24 premiere in September, however, trouble erupted behind the screen when script coordinator Haley Cameron suddenly left.

When a list for her replacement was posted on listerv, which is widely circulated among script coordinators who work with show writers, Cameron posted a warning to those seeking to replace her, the Los Angeles Times informed.

“The new showrunner, David Graziano, is a very unprofessional, self-centered and immature man,” he wrote. “I’ve been in this industry a long time and I’ve never experienced such pure misogyny from white men.”

“I urge you, especially women, to think twice before putting yourself in a position that could end as badly as mine.”

Other people who worked with Graziano on the sets echoed the criticism, claiming that he was a toxic boss who had a tendency to pick on women.

After arriving over the summer to direct the show’s hit season 24, Graziano (left) quickly lost one of his new script coordinators, Haley Cameron, one of his accusers.

Cameron (left) called Graziano an “unprofessional, self-centered and immature man” and warned women not to take his old job. The message was echoed by script coordinator Amy Hartman (right), who was among the Coyote series staff members who accused Graziano of creating a hostile work environment.

Amy Hartman, who worked as a script coordinator with Graziano, chimed in with her own experience while on set with him in the 2021 drama Coyote.

“Graz is super toxic and I’ve never run away from a job as fast in my life as I did when I did SC for him,” he wrote in Listerv’s post. ‘Stay away.’

She told the Times that Graziano’s problems on set were well known, and she was surprised to learn that he became showrunner for Law & Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit), a series that focuses on violence and crime. abuse of power with predominantly female victims. .

“I was completely floored that he was working again and working on that show,” Hartman said.

Alafair Hall, a spokesman for Graziano, denied the claims, saying Cameron was fired over Graziano’s concerns that she was “unprofessional”, alleging she made unapproved changes to the show’s script in her month-long stint at Law. and order: SVU.

“The suggestion that Mr. Graziano created a hostile work environment, or that he is sexist, inappropriate and unprofessional is false,” Hall said.

Representatives for NBCUniversal, which runs Law and Order, did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

Many of those who worked with Graziano were surprised to learn that he became the showrunner of Law and Order SVU, a series that focuses on violence and abuse of power with predominantly female victims. The show stars Mariska Hargitay (left)

Graziano was accused of berating his staff on Sony’s drama series Coyote (above). A script coordinator on the show claimed that Graziano would make someone cry every day.

Women were not the only ones to speak out publicly against Graziano. Coyote’s fellow script coordinator David James described working with Graziano as pure ‘misery’.

“Coyote was easily the worst job I’ve ever had in Hollywood,” he told the Times. ‘I thought after this show no one would give [Graziano] another show to run.

James accused Graziano of berating the staff, claiming that people cried “daily” over his run-ins with the showrunner.

Paloma Lamb, who was a writer’s assistant producer on the show, said Graziano was “always commenting on the way women look.”

Lamb accused Graziano of overworking her, giving her odd jobs and handling personal tasks, which Lamb said she had to take in stride to keep her career intact.

“I wanted to be a writer and I was like, okay, he’s not sexually assaulting me. This is probably good,” she told the Times.

Graziano has denied all the accusations. His spokeswoman said the showrunner “regrets lashing out” at his team at Coyote, but said his client was never sexist or racist.

Others who asked to speak on condition of anonymity said Graziano was quick to shut down female writers’ ideas about Coyote and had made inappropriate comments about women and people of color.

Both Hartman and Lamb noted incidents where Graziano apparently lashed out at the crew for seven minutes for not receiving their lunch.

Regarding the allegations by Coyote’s staff, Graziano’s spokesperson denied the allegations of sexism and racism, saying that his client suffered a lot of “physical pain” during production, causing him to become angry with the staff.

‘Mister. Graziano would yell at people and was generally in a bad mood,” Hall said. “While he doesn’t see his pain as an excuse, it is an explanation and he regrets lashing out.”

Hall added that Sony launched an investigation into the allegations against Graziano on the set of Coyote and cleared him of “any wrongdoing,” as had NBCUniversal regarding the Law & Order complaints.