‘Anger Management,’ ‘Cristela’ Writer Says She Was Once Fired After ‘Being Sexually Harassed’

Daley Haggar calls out “senior staff member who had never seen a line he didn’t cross”

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TV writer Daley Haggar is “snitching on Hollywood sexism” in a Lenny Letter published Friday. The “Anger Management,” “Cristela” and “Friends With Benefits” alum says she was fired from a gig after being sexually harassed by a senior staff member she identified as “Carlton.”

Haggar, who per IMDb was once a task producer and consultant on “The Apprentice,” did not identify which series the story was referring to — but she shared her motivation for the essay’s timing.

“I had drinks with a group of friends — all younger female writers,” Haggar wrote for Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s website. “We started talking about work. And guess what? It turned out that every single one of them had dealt with inappropriate behavior from men they worked for or with. And just so we’re clear, I’m not talking about dirty jokes. I’m talking about unwanted touching and quid pro quo offers to f–k.”

Haggar was also very cautious about not jumping to any sort of conclusion or accusation, both back then and during her recollection. After all, writer’s rooms on TV comedies are generally considered safe spaces to go overboard with joke pitches.

“When someone does cross the line, you can never be sure because… what line?” she said. “Being sexually harassed by a sitcom writer is like being sexually harassed by your gynecologist. It can be hard to tell if the guy’s being a pervert or just doing his job.”

And then she met “Carlton,” which we’re sure is not this guy’s real name.

“My strategy for dealing with Carlton was to smile and laugh the way world leaders do when they’re forced to hang out with Trump,” the ex-“Too Late With Adam Carolla” consulting producer scribed. “It didn’t work. I got self-conscious, and my work suffered.”

Eventually, there was a glimmer of hope for Haggar. Called into her boss’s office after some particularly uncomfortable momemts, Haggar was asked to not disclose “Carlton’s” behavior to anyone. No, that’s certainly not the “hope” part we promised — but she was told the matter was being handled “internally.”

Unfortunately, the result of that sent her to the “B-room,” or the “story” room — effectively a demotion. Hope, squashed.

Eventually, Haggar would get fired, and per her account, that news was delivered via an assistant’s phone called while she was at her grandparent’s house on Easter Sunday. All class.

Haggar concluded her piece this way: “When you’ve been sexually harassed (or whatever you call what happened to me at that show), you should at least be able to get a funny story out of it. Instead, I was told by everyone — including some so-called allies now shooting their mouths off on Twitter about the evils of sexism — to shut up about it. Talking about it would ruin my career. This is pure bulls–t. If women keep staying quiet, this crap continues. If we call people out on it, it will stop. Period. Besides, if writing jokes for a talking a– didn’t destroy my career, nothing can.”

Read her full story here.

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