Amazon

Roy Price Stands Accused of Sexual Harassment, Nepotism, and Bad TV Taste

According to various reports, Amazon’s former programming chief has been very busy doing some very inappropriate things.
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Price speaks at the Amazon 2016 Summer TCA Press Tour on August 7, 2016.By Charley Gallay/Getty Images.

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Just as Harvey Weinstein’s star plummets to the ground, another powerful Hollywood figure seems to be following suit: Roy Price, who resigned on Tuesday from his position as Amazon Studios content czar. His resignation came less than a week after The Man in the High Castle producer Isa Hackett accused Price of sexual harassment. Since then, even more allegations and stories have emerged, painting a troubling picture of Price’s tenure.

Word first spread about Hackett’s accusation this summer, but didn’t explode until Hackett herself went on the record with The Hollywood Reporter last week. Hackett says that in 2015, she and Price were in San Diego to promote The Man in the High Castle at Comic-Con. At one point, she alleges, she wound up in a cab with Price and another Amazon executive who has since left the company. In the cab, Hackett says Price began to proposition her, saying, “You will love my dick.” Despite her expression of disinterest, Hackett says Price later said, “anal sex!” in her ear once they arrived at an Amazon party, where she had been speaking with other executives.

An Amazon representative gave T.H.R. the following statement: “We take seriously any questions about the conduct of our employees. We expect people to set high standards for themselves; we encourage people to raise any concerns and we make it a priority to investigate and address them. Accordingly, we looked closely at this specific concern and addressed it directly with those involved.”

Now, a new T.H.R. piece relays even more harrowing recollections. For instance: T.H.R. reports that just weeks after the alleged incident with Hackett, Price instigated an “awkward and uncomfortable” conversation with two female TV executives and one male executive—TriStar TV’s Suzanne Patmore Gibbs, former Amazon development executive Carolyn Newman, and former Amazon hourlong programming head Morgan Wandell. Following a table read for Good Girls Revolt, a historical drama about female magazine employees facing sexism in the industry, Gibbs confirmed to T.H.R. that Price tried to focus their conversation toward sexual history and drug use. All three executives left quickly. (Representatives for Amazon and Price both declined T.H.R.’s request for comment.)

Good Girls Revolt has become another smudge on Price and Amazon’s reputation: after the series was canceled, its creator alleged that Price had never even bothered to learn its characters’ names, and in the wake of Hackett’s allegations, some of the show’s fans have called for its revival. Anna Camp, who starred in the series, tweeted an article regarding Price’s initial suspension from Amazon and commented, “He cancelled #goodgirlsrevolt a show about sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace.” Her husband and Pitch Perfect co-star, Skylar Astin, added, “Seems like the only retribution I could think of would be to give these women their voices back. Bring that show back dangit!”

Price also faces allegations of simple poor taste. Good Girls Revolt’s cancellation was far from a surprise to many because—Transparent and the upcoming Marvelous Mrs. Maisel notwithstanding—Amazon’s TV roster tended to lean toward male-oriented programming under Price. Last year, the studio also had to defend its expensive deal with Woody Allen, whose six-episode series Crisis in Six Scenes landed with a thud. Under Price, the studio also reportedly passed on the opportunity to bid for both Big Little Lies and The Handmaid’s Tale: two female-oriented series that ended up sweeping this year’s Emmys, from which Amazon departed largely empty-handed.

According to T.H.R., when Big Little Lies was on the table, most bidders made straight-to-series offers; Price, on the other hand, insisted on a development deal instead, and allegedly asked a group of Amazon staffers at a holiday party if stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman would “show their tits” in the show. He reportedly followed up by wondering why he should green light the show if they didn’t. It’s probably for the best; Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley described the work atmosphere at Amazon as “a bit of a gong show” in a disparaging Wall Street Journal story about the troubled studio, adding, “They are in way over their heads.”

And then there’s Price’s reported bizarre pet project: a series called Shanghai Snow, which T.H.R. says was Price’s own idea. In a script draft obtained by the magazine, the series “follows a young woman named Cindy who is sold into sex slavery. Under the control of a ‘psychotic imperial Thai dwarf’ named Mr. Goodtimes, Cindy is drugged, beaten with a machete and told she will be ‘fucked like a dead fish.’“ Price reportedly also pushed for Amazon to buy an idea for a series created by his fiancée, Lila Feinberg. The series would have included a Price-like character named Richard Forman, who has a younger girlfriend: a writer from New York named “Lita.”

Feinberg and Price have called off their wedding in the wake of Hackett’s harassment allegation.

We have reached out to Price though Amazon, and will update this post accordingly.

Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Morgan Wandell as a female.