“Days of Our Lives” actor Arianne Zucker has reached a settlement with the producers of the show after her 2024 lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and discrimination on the set of the soap opera.
Notice of the settlement was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. No further details about the settlement were included. Zucker’s attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Zucker had starred on “Days of Our Lives” since 1998, playing the character Nicole Walker. In her February 2024 lawsuit, she alleged that now-former executive producer Albert Alarr subjected her and other employees to “severe and pervasive harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment, based upon their female gender.”
Zucker claimed that Alarr would grab and hug her, “purposely pushing her breasts onto his chest” while moaning sexually, according to the lawsuit. She also alleged that he would make “sexually charged comments” to her.
“Our client continues to deny the allegations set forth in the complaint,” Alarr’s attorney, Robert Barta, said in a statement. “However, in order to bring the litigation to the end, he has agreed to settle. This decision was made solely to end the dispute and move forward.”
Zucker’s lawsuit also named Corday Productions, which oversees the show, and its owner, Ken Corday, as defendants in the lawsuit, alleging retaliation. Zucker alleged that her pay was decreased and her travel stipend revoked after she voiced concerns. In June 2023, she said her character was written off the show after 20 years.
Several months later, Corday Productions offered to renew Zucker’s contract but allegedly did not negotiate with her representatives for higher pay, the lawsuit said.
Attorneys for Corday and Corday Productions did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Corday Productions previously told The Times in a statement that Zucker’s claims “are without merit” and that she was offered a pay increase upon an offer to renew her contract. The company said at the time that complaints about Alarr’s on-set behavior were “promptly investigated” and the company “fully cooperated with the impartial investigation and subsequently terminated Mr. Alarr.”
“Days of Our Lives” aired on Comcast-owned NBC from Nov. 8, 1965, to Sept. 9, 2022, before moving to the Comcast streaming platform Peacock in 2022.
Arianne Zucker reaches settlement over sexual harassment allegations
“Days of Our Lives” actor Arianne Zucker has reached a settlement with the producers of the show after her 2024 lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and discrimination on the set of the soap opera.
Notice of the settlement was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. No further details about the settlement were included. Zucker’s attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Zucker had starred on “Days of Our Lives” since 1998, playing the character Nicole Walker. In her February 2024 lawsuit, she alleged that now-former executive producer Albert Alarr subjected her and other employees to “severe and pervasive harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment, based upon their female gender.”
Zucker claimed that Alarr would grab and hug her, “purposely pushing her breasts onto his chest” while moaning sexually, according to the lawsuit. She also alleged that he would make “sexually charged comments” to her.
“Our client continues to deny the allegations set forth in the complaint,” Alarr’s attorney, Robert Barta, said in a statement. “However, in order to bring the litigation to the end, he has agreed to settle. This decision was made solely to end the dispute and move forward.”
Zucker’s lawsuit also named Corday Productions, which oversees the show, and its owner, Ken Corday, as defendants in the lawsuit, alleging retaliation. Zucker alleged that her pay was decreased and her travel stipend revoked after she voiced concerns. In June 2023, she said her character was written off the show after 20 years.
Several months later, Corday Productions offered to renew Zucker’s contract but allegedly did not negotiate with her representatives for higher pay, the lawsuit said.
Attorneys for Corday and Corday Productions did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Corday Productions previously told The Times in a statement that Zucker’s claims “are without merit” and that she was offered a pay increase upon an offer to renew her contract. The company said at the time that complaints about Alarr’s on-set behavior were “promptly investigated” and the company “fully cooperated with the impartial investigation and subsequently terminated Mr. Alarr.”
“Days of Our Lives” aired on Comcast-owned NBC from Nov. 8, 1965, to Sept. 9, 2022, before moving to the Comcast streaming platform Peacock in 2022.
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Jason Zucker scores only goal as Buffalo shuts out the Kings
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 24 shots, Jason Zucker scored the game’s only goal, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Kings 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Luukkonen had six saves in the first period, six in the second and 12 in the third to get his first shutout of the season in his return after being sidelined for two games because of a lower-body injury. The Sabres have won five of seven.
David Rittich made 18 saves for the Kings, who have lost three of four.
With the game scoreless after two periods, Zucker scored 38 seconds into the third on the power play by redirecting Rasmus Dahlin’s shot past Rittich.
Dahlin has points on the man advantage in four straight games, and he extended his point streak overall to seven straight with four goals and six assists in that span.
Takeaways
Sabres: Tage Thompson, who leads Buffalo in goals, missed his third straight game because of a lower-body injury. He had practiced the last two days.
Kings: Having spent the first two months of the season grinding out results in spite of largely inconsistent performances, the Kings couldn’t pull it off again and dropped to 5-2-1 on home ice.
Key moment
Zucker was unbothered at the top of the crease, and that positioning turned into his fourth goal of the season with the tip of Dahlin’s effort.
Key stat
Buffalo came into the night two for 19 (10.5%) on the power play away from home, which ranked 30th in the NHL. But a one-for-three showing was enough to take down the Kings.
Up Next
Sabres visit the Ducks on Friday night, and Kings host Seattle on Saturday.
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Chris Wallace exits CNN as post-election cost-cutting begins
Veteran journalist Chris Wallace is exiting CNN three years after joining from Fox News.
“Chris Wallace is one of the most respected political journalists in the news business with a unique track record across radio, print, broadcast television, cable television and streaming,” CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement Monday. “We want to thank him for the dedication and wisdom he’s brought to all his work at CNN and to wish him the very best for future.”
Wallace, 77, is the first and likely not last big-name TV news talent to leave in the coming months. Major cost-cutting is expected across media organizations following the 2024 presidential election.
Wallace was expected to be a cost-cutting target. He was poached from Fox News in late 2021 at a salary said to be in the range of $8 million a year. His two weekend programs, “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” and “The Chris Wallace Show,” are modest performers in the ratings for the network.
Former CNN President Jeff Zucker originally hired Wallace to work at CNN+, the company’s initial attempt at a streaming service to supplement its cable business. Zucker was fired two weeks after Wallace arrived and the streaming venture was shut down shortly after CNN became part of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zucker’s successor Chris Licht moved “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” — where the host did lengthy interviews with celebrities — to the cable network. Wallace added a live Saturday morning discussion show in 2023 and appeared on CNN during special event coverage.
The final episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” will air Friday and his Saturday program is expected to air through the end of the year.
Wallace came to CNN after becoming disenchanted with Fox News, where he spent 18 years and was the highest-profile figure to come to the conservative-leaning channel from one of the broadcast networks. He moderated presidential debates in 2016 and 2020.
Wallace, who moderated “Fox News Sunday,” left the program not long after he expressed his dismay to Fox News management in 2021 over a documentary on the Fox Nation streaming service with former host Tucker Carlson. The program, which never aired on Fox News Channel, pushed the false theory that the insurrection in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was instigated by government agents.
The son of the “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace, the younger Wallace established himself as a correspondent on NBC, where he was a Washington anchor of “Today” and a moderator of “Meet the Press.” Wallace was at ABC News from 1989 to 2003 where was often seen on “Primetime Thursday” and “Nightline.”
The Daily Beast was the first to report that Wallace’s departure.
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