Former ‘Simpsons’ Composer Alf Clausen Slams Disney and Fox for “Lies and Deceit” Over Firing

The feud between longtime The Simpsons composer Alf Clausen and Disney and 20th Century Fox has escalated. In a new court filing related, Clausen slammed the studios’ alleged “lies and deceit” over his 2017 termination from the show and accused them of discriminating against a 76-year-old employee. Disney, 20th Century Fox TV and Films, and James L. Brooks’ Gracie Films have repeatedly denied the allegations and have sought to have the August 2019 suit tossed from court.

According to Deadline, Clausen, now 79, claims that he was fired from The Simpsons after almost 30 years on the show “a month after telling Fox he had Parkinson’s disease.” The composer originally filed the complaint one year ago, and in a new filing — submitted as opposition to Disney and Fox’s effort to have the case dismissed — he repeated his claim that his 2017 termination was an example of age discrimination.

“Through Defendants’ own documents and subterfuge of lies, Mr. Clausen can demonstrate that the decision to terminate his lengthy employment was not only unrelated to the furtherance of free speech, but motivated by discriminatory animus, in an effort to avoid having to accommodate an old, ailing employee,” his attorney writes. “Since the lenient anti-SLAPP standards now require this Court to accept Mr. Clausen’s evidence as true and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in his favor, Defendants’ Motion must be denied.”

Disney and Fox contend that Clausen was fired because The Simpsons opted to pursue a new musical direction. Deadline reports that the veteran composer worked primarily with classical and jazz-inspired music, and the studio was looking for a more contemporary sound.

In an April filing, Disney and Fox also claimed that Clausen had outsourced his responsibilities to his son and another musician. According to the filing, after the studios discovered the alleged scheme, “The Creative Executives then discovered that Clausen had been submitting music composed by these other musicians on other episodes as well.”

Clausen’s attorneys have denied this claim. “Surely, if Mr. Clausen was having so much trouble meeting expectations, as Defendants now shamelessly and disingenuously contend, there would have been one email, text message, instant message, or internal memo mentioning it during his 27 years with the show,” reads the opposition filing. “Like the rest of their arguments, there is likewise no merit to the proposition that Mr. Clausen was incapable of composing modern music including electronic, rap and/or hip hop. During his time as the composer of The Simpsons, Mr. Clausen scored nearly all of the music for each episode, spanning a wide spectrum of styles and genres, from rock, R&B, rap/hip hop, electronic, disco, country, big-band, choral, contemporary, etc.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Stern is expected to hear the case remotely next week and determine whether it will proceed.

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