Charisma Carpenter getting fired from “Angel” by Joss Whedon for basically being pregnant (after the director passive-aggressively threatened her multiple times and called her “fat”). Nicollette Sheridan getting written off of “Desperate Housewives” after five years, claiming she was a victim of assault and battery by the creator of the show that she reported and eventually got retaliated against. Or Ruby Rose leaving “Batwoman” after one season because of the toxic and dangerous work environment she had to perform in.
African-American actress Afton Williamson’s case for departing Alexi Hawley’s police procedural, “The Rookie,” is perhaps an even more upsetting and maddening example (but sadly not uncommon in Hollywood). After playing Talia Bishop — a newly promoted training officer of the LAPD — for 20 episodes in the first season between 2018 and 2019, Williamson left the series due to a myriad of alleged offenses done to her, including racial discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault.
After turning down the offer to return in season 2, Williamson took to Instagram in 2019 to share the details of her decision with her fans. She explained that starting as early as the shooting of the pilot, she was getting inappropriate and racially charged comments from the hair department alongside bullying from the executive producers.
