Matthew Weiner Exits Eddie Murphy's Peacock Series
The Mad Men creator left The Chairman after a clash with producers. A new showrunning team is in place, and the writers room has been shut for two weeks.
Matthew Weiner has left Eddie Murphy's Peacock series The Chairman after a clash with producers, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Murphy is among the producers. Weiner, known for Mad Men, was the showrunner. The reason given for his departure was "creative differences".
A new showrunning team is already in place and will be announced soon, according to the report. The writers room has been shut for two weeks during the transition. Weiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Variety was first to report that Weiner is out.
The show
The Chairman is produced by Universal Television and 101 Studios, the company of David Glasser of Yellowstone, which has a first-look film and television deal at NBCUniversal. It is the first project from Chris McCarthy under his overall deal with NBCU. McCarthy followed his friend Taylor Sheridan over from Paramount. The plot remains under wraps.
For Murphy, it will be the first regular TV series role since NBC's Saturday Night Live, which launched his comedy career. He was a cast member on the sketch show for four seasons, from 1980 to 1984.
After SNL, Murphy built a film career that includes the Beverly Hills Cop franchise and The Nutty Professor, and he voiced Donkey in the Shrek franchise.
101 Studios has gone through numerous showrunner changes itself, mostly on Sheridan shows.
Weiner's record
Weiner has won nine Emmy awards, mostly for Mad Men on AMC. He also wrote and served as executive producer on The Sopranos. His other credits include The Romanoffs, Becker and Are You Here.
In 2017, Kater Gordon, an Emmy-winning writer for Mad Men, accused Weiner of sexual harassment. Gordon said Weiner told her one late night at work that she owed it to him to let him see her naked. The show let her go a year later. Weiner has repeatedly denied the allegation. In October 2018 he told the New York Times: "I have reasons I don't believe that I said it, if that makes sense, but I really don't remember saying it."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter