‘All Rise’ Writers Quit Series Over Depictions of Race and Gender

Legal drama All Rise had an impressive debut on CBS last fall and is gearing up for Season 2, but not all is well behind the scenes of the hit courtroom series. Five of All Rise‘s original staff of seven writers are cutting ties with the show after negative experiences with showrunner Greg Spottiswood, the New York Times reports.

Of the writers leaving All Rise ahead of Season 2, three are the program’s top writers of color. In today’s report, former All Rise staff said they left the series after clashes with Spottiswood, who is white. “We had to do so much behind the scenes to keep these scripts from being racist and offensive,” said Shernold Edwards, a Black writer who previously worked on Sleepy Hollow and is now leaving All Rise.

Sunil Nayar, an Indian-American writer who has worked on Revenge and CSI Miami, is also leaving after his experiences with Spottiswood. “It became clear to me, when I left the show, that I was only there because I’m the brown guy,” he said. “Greg hired me to be his brown guy.”

Spottiswood adapted All Rise, a drama about a newly appointed Black judge (Simone Missick) in Los Angeles, from the 2005 nonfiction book “Courtroom 302.” While the book was written about a white male judge, Spottiswood changed the lead in his series to a Black woman. Now, former writers are saying that the showrunner ignored or shot down their attempts at accurately portraying the lives of Black people and people of color.

In one instance, both Nayar and Edwards objected to a scene in which two women of color on the show — Emily Lopez (Jessica Camacho) and Sara Castillo (Lindsay Mendez) — have a conversation about domestic abuse while boarding an elevator. When they step in, a naked white man joins them, but they continue to speak as if nothing is going on. “Two women would not calmly continue a conversation with a naked white guy running into the elevator,” Edwards said. “That is violence. That is a dangerous situation that they would have to respond to.”

Edwards and Nayar emailed Spottiswood and the scene was eventually cut, but not before the showrunner called both of them in for a meeting where he reprimanded them for their complaints.

The writers also recalled clashing with  Spottiswood over cutting an important scene about racist police practices, and the inclusion of an offensive plot about a Latin American gang wielding machetes in Los Angeles. Often times, Edwards said, the lead character was written in stereotypical or inaccurate ways.

After conducting a workplace review last year, Warner Bros did not fire Spottiswood, but provided a Black female corporate coach to guide him. “As soon as we became aware of concerns in the All Rise writers’ room, we took steps to conduct a review of the work environment,” Warner Bros. said in a statement provided to Decider. “The findings did not reveal conduct that would warrant removing series creator, Greg Spottiswood, from the Executive Producer role. We identified areas for improvement, and implemented procedures and protocols in response to the findings, which are resulting in the steps necessary to move forward with the series’ leadership in place. As with all of our series, we have open communication with our cast, staff and crew to ensure a safe and respectful work environment for our entire workforce. In late 2019, despite significant efforts made by the Studio to retain Mr. Nayar, he asked to be released from his duties as executive producer/co-showrunner, a decision we ultimately supported. With respect to the writing staff departures, we greatly valued everyone on the team, including Ms. Edwards, and our ultimate goal was to retain them. We are extremely proud of the show and the contributions of the entire writers’ room.”

Spottiswood issued his own statement to the Times acknowledging the issues behind the scenes at All Rise. “When it appeared the writers’ room was struggling to function as effectively as it should, I recognized that I needed to change how I was working. I voluntarily sought management training and leadership coaching.”

This piece has been updated to include Warner Bros’ full statement.

Where to watch All Rise