TV weatherman Al Roker and his production company have been sued by a producer who alleges he was fired after objecting to the company’s failure to implement diversity initiatives for an upcoming PBS animated show.
The suit alleges black writers were brought in merely to touch up scripts written by white staffers in order to give the appearance of a diverse writers room, according to multiple reports.
Bill Schultz — whose long career in TV animation includes The Simpsons and King of the Hill — filed the suit this week in a New York federal court, claiming Al Roker Entertainment “callously disregarded” a diversity, equity and inclusion program mandated by PBS for the show Weather Hunters.
Al Roker has promoted the upcoming Weather Hunters on NBC’s Today show, calling it a “passion project that I’ve been trying to develop for the past ten years.”
