‘The Acolyte’ Producer Karyn McCarthy Sues Lucasfilm for ‘Egregious’ Wrongful Termination From ‘Star Wars’ Series

The former “Ballers” EP was terminated after several weeks into the job on the “Star Wars” series for Disney+

Logo for the Disney+ original series "The Acolyte"

“Ballers” executive producer Karyn McCarthy has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Lucasfilm for an “egregious” wrongful termination on the “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte.”

After being terminated from the Disney+ series several weeks into the job, the suit argues that the wrongful termination deprived McCarthy of “significant employment, from which she would have earned millions of dollars.”

According to the suit, obtained Wednesday by TheWrap, two weeks after McCarthy and the production company settled on an agreement, Lucasfilm notified the producer they wanted to exit the deal “without explanation, without reason [and] without justification.”

After McCarthy requested to be compensated for her work on the series, the complaint states that the production company denied their previously agreed upon deal despite the production company’s confirmed agreement that McCarthy accepted as well as the additional memorandum of agreement that Lucasfilm had sent McCarthy.

Additionally, joining “The Acolyte” left McCarthy unable to accept a “lucrative executive producer” position on an Apple series titled “Sugar,” which was no long available after being terminated from the “Star Wars” series.

According to the filing, McCarthy is seeking to hold Lucasfilm “accountable for its egregious breach of their agreement” and “the statutory penalties McCarthy is entitled for its failure to pay her for her work.” The suit further requests that McCarthy is credited as an executive producer on the series for the purpose of “command[ing] higher future wages and more lucrative employment opportunities.”

Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

McCarthy’s counsel at Glaser Weil, including Patricia Glaser, Robert Allen and Matthew Bernstein, released the following statement: “For over 35 years, Karyn has hired thousands of people for several major studios on many high-profile projects. She knows when a deal is a deal. Throughout her entire career — from office assistant, location manager, unit production manager and eventually producer — she has prioritized fairness, kindness and human decency. Even after the bizarre and unfounded termination, Karyn approached Lucasfilm without a lawyer to get paid for what she was owed. Lucasfilm responded with lawyers and lies. Filing suit was the last resort.” 

Deadline first reported the news.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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