‘Burn It Down’ by Maureen Ryan claims there was poisonous culture on the set of ‘Lost,’ ‘SNL,’ ‘Sleepy Hollow’ and more

Longtime entertainment journalist Maureen Ryan claims there is toxic Hollywood culture behind the scenes of hit television series such as “Lost,” “SNL,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “The Goldbergs” in her new book: “Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood.”

Ryan — who has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety — cracks open writing rooms and television with alleged racism, sexual assault and bullying.

“Ryan blows the lid on patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood, the grassroots reforms under way, and the labor and activist revolutions that recent scandals have ignited,” states a note from the book’s publisher, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“Burn It Down,” which officially hit the shelves on Tuesday, has already shot to the top of bestseller charts.

Excerpts from the book — shared with Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter — give a glimpse at what readers can expect from “Burn It Down.”

‘Lost’ had a ‘poisonous’ culture, according to book

According to “Burn It Down,” racism abounded on the set of “Lost.”

“I can only describe it as hazing. It was very much middle school and relentlessly cruel. And I’ve never heard that much racist commentary in one room in my career,” recalled Monica Owusu-Breen, who worked on the third season of “Lost,” per Vanity Fair.

“There was no way to navigate that situation. Part of it was they really didn’t like their characters of color. When you have to go home and cry for an hour before you can see your kids because you have to excise all the stress you’ve been holding in, you’re not going to write anything good after that,” Owusu-Breen added.

After refusing to accept the “Lost” cast’s vibe — which was interpreted as failure — Owusu-Breen noted: “My writing partner was told, ‘The problem is, you don’t think racism is funny.’”

“I was so happy to be fired,” recalled Owusu-Breen, per Vanity Fair.

Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson on “Lost,” came to the series with more acting experience that almost every other member in the cast.

Within the first season of the series, Perrineau noticed his role in the show dwindling.

“It became pretty clear that I was the Black guy. Daniel (Dae Kim) was the Asian guy. And then you had Jack and Kate and Sawyer,” said Perrineau, per Vanity Fair. “I don’t have to be the first, I don’t have to have the most episodes — but I’d like to be in the mix. But it seems like this is now a story about Jack and Kate and Sawyer.”

While reading a draft for an early episode in Season 2, Perrineau recalled feeling the script was “too much,” and he believed the writing furthered racist narrative.

During a phone call with his bosses, he said, “If you’re going to use me, let’s work. I’m here to work. I’m good at my job and I’ll do anything you want. Except be ‘the Black guy’ on your show.”

Just weeks before shooting the final episodes of Season 2, Perrineau was informed that his character would not be returning to the show because “you said you don’t have enough work here, so we’re letting you go,” per Vanity Fair.

Damon Lindelof, showrunner for “Lost,” claims to “have no recollection” of the incidents reported in Ryan’s book.

“I’m telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things,” Lindelof told Ryan, per Vulture. “And that’s not me saying that they didn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s literally baffling my brain — that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing.”

A look at ‘SNL’ culture behind-the-scenes

At just 17 years old, Jane Doe attended an official “Saturday Night Live” afterparty. She was speaking with Horatio Sanz when he sexually assaulted her in front of several “SNL” cast members, Doe claims in “Burn It Down,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

“My control top pantyhose did more to keep me safe than any of those people that I idolized,” said Doe.

For years, Doe was “swept up into the show’s world, attending parties and getting to know fellow fans and people who worked at SNL.”

She was served alcohol underage and participated in drug use. Abuse from Sanz continued, she said. “Sanz was clearly pursuing me, physically pursuing me across years of these parties,” recalled Doe, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“If I saw my colleague doing that with a teenage fan, I would absolutely intervene or I would go up the chain of command and I would want something to be done. I would want it to be handled. And I don’t think that that happened. And I don’t know if that was because no one said anything at all.”

“And I don’t know if that’s because, maybe, ‘Saturday Night Live’ selects employees who happen to be funny and also happen to be the type of people that aren’t going to say anything when bad things happen to people — they’re just going to keep their mouth closed.”

Doe filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Sanz in 2021. Sanz initially denied all allegations, per Insider.

Sanz settled the sexual assault suit in November 2022.

A spokesperson at the law firm representing Doe said: “I can confirm that the parties have resolved their dispute and have moved on,” per the New York Post.

Jeff Garlin was ‘disrespectful’ on the set of ‘The Goldbergs’

Jeff Garlin — who plays Murray Goldberg in “The Goldbergs” — was described as being “disrespectful” and “disparaging” toward his castmates on the set of “The Goldbergs,” according to “Burn It Down.”

“It was a big boys club of men who were probably always kind of the dorks in high school that got picked on, then all of a sudden, they had this power,” a source told Ryan, per People.

Another source told Ryan that Garlin used his “power and status to intimidate and demean everyone on this crew.”

The actor was investigated by human resources at least three times while working on “The Goldbergs” for “harassing, disparaging or physically problematic,” behavior on set that he played off as “joking.”

Garlin unexpectedly left the TV show mid-Season 9. He told Vanity Fair in 2021 that he was not fired from the series.

“My opinion is, I have my process about how I’m funny, in terms of the scene and what I have to do. They feel that it makes for a quote ‘unsafe’ workspace. Now, mind you, my silliness making an unsafe workspace — I don’t understand how that is. And I’m on a comedy show,” Garlin told Vanity Fair.

“I am always a kind and thoughtful person. I make mistakes, sure. But my comedy is about easing people’s pain. Why would I ever want to cause pain in anybody for a laugh? That’s bullying. That’s just uncalled for,” Garlin added.

Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays Beverly Goldberg on the show, claimed Garlin’s exit was “a long time coming,” per People.

“And that it finally happened it was like, ‘OK, OK. Finally someone is listening to us,’” said McLendon-Covey.