Former The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen’s lawsuit against Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox and the new owners of the show at Disney remains surprisingly bitter, and Clausen’s lawyers are now releasing a statement.via Deadline) who accuses the accused of using “lies and deceit” to cover up the real reason why Clausen was fired from the program in 2017. Even when that news initially came to light, there were conflicting theories as to why Clausen received the snatch: Insiders said that The Simpsons producer Richard Sakai wanted a “different kind of music” for the show (after almost 30 years of the same type of music), while Variety I assumed it was actually money (since Clausen’s orchestra apparently would cost millions of dollars each season). Two years laterHowever, Clausen sued Fox and producers for discriminating against him for “perceived disability and age,” noting that his replacement was younger, cheaper, and “not disabled.” (It was unclear at the time, but Clausen has revealed that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a month before he was fired.)
At the beginning of this year, The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman said in a legal filing that the “creative possibilities of the show were limited by Clausen’s abilities”, forcing them to obtain EmpireJim Beanz to help Clausen with the music for a rap episode. Producer James L. Brooks apparently questioned Clausen’s ability to compose rap music at the time and also questioned him “more generally.” Clausen was also reported to be contracting some of his The Simpsons works for his son, the composer Scott Clausen.
This most recent development stems from the Clausen camp’s response to defendants seeking to have the case dismissed, saying their dismissal was due to “discriminatory intent” in an attempt to avoid providing accommodation to an “old and sick”. As for the suggestion that Clausen could not compose more modern styles of music, his attorneys say that if that were the case, there would be “an email, text message, instant message, or internal memo mentioning it during his 27 years with the show, “implying that no one explicitly said that Clausen’s style and skills were enough of a problem to fire him after so long.
There will be a hearing on August 5 in front of a judge, at which point we should probably know if this lawsuit is progressing.
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