Source: Joshua Blanchard / Getty
Diddy has some explaining to do.
According to a new lawsuit filed by White staffers at his music channel Revolt, the company canned them because they weren’t young and black. Page Six reports that Douglas Goodstein and four other Caucasian producers, who are each over age 39, worked on the televised version of Revolt’s popular urban talk-radio program The Breakfast Club.
Goodstein and crew claim they were treated by bosses at Revolt “worse than other employees who were younger and African-American.” The suit also claims that Executive Vice President Val Boreland “was always rude, condescending and dismissive towards the [team]. Ms. Boreland, however, treated the African-American staff in a much friendlier and respectful manner.” It also says that execs at the channel turned a blind eye to the behavior of “African-American employees who arrived to work intoxicated or hung over.”
According to producer Todd Baker, when he complained about the lack of punctuality of the show’s guests, production manager Cherisse McKenzie allegedly said “he just did not understand the ‘culture’ of the show’s guests and on-air personalities.” The suit also says that the “out of touch” team was fired in December 2014 and replaced with inexperienced black employees. An attorney for producers told reporters, “Racism directed at anyone is unacceptable.” However, an attorney for the channel said, “These claims are without merit and have previously been dismissed by the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission].”
The team is seeking damages to be specified at trial.
