Steve Blackman has been accused of exhibiting “toxic, bullying, manipulative and retaliatory habits” in a human resources complaint filed by 12 former writers and support staff on Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy.’
In response to a scathing review Rolling Stone report detailing a series of allegations of poisonous, intimidating, phobic, manipulative and retaliatory habits against The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman responded.
Based primarily on a comic book series written by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Approach and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, Blackman adapted the series for television, with the beloved series being released in February 2019 on Netflix. The fourth and final season is scheduled to premiere on August 8, 2024.
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“Over six years and four seasons overseeing thousands of crew, actors and writers, Steve Blackman led The Umbrella Academy to become a beloved sequel with devoted fans, captivating stories and a dedicated team making it all possible,” a rep for the showrunner said. LOL in an advertisement.
“These allegations from a handful of disgruntled workers are completely false and outrageous, and in no way reflect the collaborative, respectful, and profitable work environment that Mr. Blackman has cultivated,” the statement concluded.
In line with the Rolling Stone article, 12 former writers and support staffers filed a complaint with the human resources department in January 2023, alleging a “long history of toxic, bullying, manipulative and retaliatory behavior” during the show’s production.
The complaints alleged a variety of miscellaneous behaviors, along with what was described as a “hot and cold” approach to workers (i.e., praising them to their faces and badmouthing them behind their backs to others). Blackman was also accused of firing those who opposed his concepts, and even implementing writers’ concepts without giving them proper credit or promotion.
He has been called a “manipulative and chaotic showrunner” who inspired “a poisonous office by pitting employees against each other,” as detailed by The Wrap. He was additionally accused of throwing out someone’s concepts if he was angry with them: “He was positively retaliating.”
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Elsewhere in the complaint, Blackman was called out for letting a female writing duo (who shared a salary as part of the agreement) go shortly after one of them gave birth. A few months after she returned to work, the writers’ room was extended for another 10 weeks, but the duo’s contract was not extended.
Representative Blackman advocated this resolution to LOL saying he worked with HR to ensure his contracts were fully honored, saying the decision not to extend was “based solely on efficiency and finances.”
Additionally, Blackman has been accused of feedback perceived as obscene, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic. The latter is very notable as Elliot’s web page passed through the execution of The Umbrella Academywith the present finally having its character transition, too.
When talking about the Season 3 arc, Blackman instructed TV Line At the time he was “really proud” of the transition story, saying he was trying to tell a “pro-trans, genuine, sensitive” story “and show that families can accept trans people into their lives, and it doesn’t have to be this harmful thing, as it’s often portrayed in the media.”
Webpage also liked how his character’s story played out, saying at the time that “one of the particular issues about it is the way it’s handled.”
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However, in the HR complaint, Blackman allegedly texted an unspecified person involved in production: “Elliot needs to come out as trans on the show. Like Ivan. Oh my fucking God. Kill me now.”
Blackman’s consultant argued that this was not a transphobic remark, but rather that the showrunner expressed frustration that all of the scripts for season three had already been written and this transitional arc would require major rewrites.
In response to the aforementioned complaints, the production company behind the show, NBC-owned Common Content Productions, launched an investigation in the spring of 2023. The only allegations they substantiated were that he made “inappropriate and unprofessional comments” and used “foul and derogatory language.”
In contrast, several unidentified sources — and former employees — instructed LOL they were not contacted by the UCP as part of their investigation, which LOL referred to as “less than complete” regardless of whether he is named in the authentic complaint. The UCP instructed Deadline they made “no additional observations” regarding the LOL history.