Roy Price, who resigned from Amazon amid sexual harassment allegations, is the one responsible for canceling “Good Girls Revolt”
Following the accusations regarding Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment in the entertainment industry has come center stage, though it’s been talked about behind closed doors for decades. Weinstein is also not the only one who stands accused of inappropriate (and illegal) behavior. And of Amazon Studios’ top executive Roy Price is just the latest Hollywood head honcho to be facing serious allegations of sexual harassment.
Price also happens to be the one who singlehandedly canceled Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt which was about — wait for it — sexual harassment in the workplace.
Earlier this week, Price resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by Isa Hackett, a producer on Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. Price reportedly said many lewd things to Hackett, including telling her, “you will love my dick.” Hackett reported the incident, and according to a dossier by The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon had been aware of the incident since 2015. Just weeks later, THR reported that a table read for (the now-canceled) Good Girls Revolt, Price and a group of female colleagues went to dinner together, where Price began to ask the women about their sexual history and previous drug use.
The allegations against Price, which are growing by the day, makes Good Girls Revolt — the show he single-handedly axed in December — even more important than it already is, and now that he’s gone, fans want it back.
Good Girls Revolt, which was based on a nonfiction book of the same name, told a fictional account of the first gender discrimination lawsuit in in the United States by the women of Newsweek magazine against their male employers in 1970. The women are not only denied job opportunities due to their gender, but they’re also regularly barraged with sexual harassment so frequently, it would make most modern HR companies completely overwhelmed. News of the Week may be a fictional newspaper, but the historical setting and most importantly, the experience, is very real.
Despite being well-received by fans and critics, with creator Dana Calvo revealing that she’d seen the data for the series and the series had twice the viewers as Amazon staple Transparent (Like Netflix, Amazon doesn’t reveal viewing statistics) the series was canceled in a surprise move by Amazon. Even George R.R. Martin, the A Song of Ice and Fire writer who discovered the series over the summer, chided the decision by Amazon. It was later revealed that Price apparently, “didn’t believe in the series.” Calvo took the Amazon executive to task, revealing that there were no women in the room when the decision was made to cancel the series, and that Price had never personally seen a single episode.
But with Price now officially out at Amazon, Good Girls Revolt fans are calling for the studio to give the series a second season — a movement being widely supported and acknowledged by the cast.
Hey @JeffBezos maybe a guy accused of sexual harrasment shouldn't be making the call to cancel a show about sexual harassment? Bring back #goodgirlsrevolt
— Gyda Arber ✨ 😷💉💉💉💉 (@gydaarber) October 13, 2017
It's time @amazon, you want to regain some trust? Bring back #GoodGirlsRevolt NOW.
— Nic Lynn 🗡 (@TitheGirl) October 17, 2017
. Seems like the only retribution I could think of would be to give these women their voices back. Bring that show back dangit!
— Skylar Astin (@SkylarAstin) October 13, 2017
He cancelled #goodgirlsrevolt a show about sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace. https://t.co/uFb23li0wy
— Anna Camp (@TheRealAnnaCamp) October 13, 2017
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Just remembering when #GoodGirlsRevolt was cancelled by this man, because he "didn't believe in it".
We need more female execs. Now. https://t.co/7qsgvflUR6— Erin Darke (@ErinMayaDarke) October 13, 2017
I am fully on board with this plan. And if Amazon doesn't save @GoodGirlsRevolt, Hulu or Netflix should. https://t.co/RrJGuaUt2n
— Julie Bogen (she/her) (@JaBogen) October 17, 2017
Isn't this the guy who canceled good girls revolt? https://t.co/aa97bFm32f
— Genevieve (@GenevieveAngel) October 13, 2017
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When ur British neighbor sees you and yells, "What about the bloody, patriarchy? It's all happening!" #goodgirlsrevolt
— Dana Calvo (@danascalvo) October 19, 2017
While its unclear whether Amazon — or any other streaming platform or network — has yet to reach out to Sony or Calvo regarding a potential second season for the series, it’s important to recognize how important this show continues to be to people. The series may take place in the 1970s but most women in 2017 can definitely relate to what they women at News of the Week are going through, whether it be their own experiences in the workplace or the fight for women’s health. As someone who wrote a concise thousand word article last year about what the series means to me and countless others, I definitely want to see Good Girls Revolt get another shot at life.
It would be a cruel irony that the man who personally ended a TV series about women taking a stand against workplace harassment and gender discrimination ended up being a blatant perpetrator, but, of course, it’s not actually surprising at all. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the women coming out to tell their stories about Harvey Weinstein, Roy Price, and the many who haven’t been publicly named but probably will be at some point, it’s that we need to have more conversations about gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.
And hey Amazon, let’s continue that conversation with another season of Good Girls Revolt.
