Yahoo News ‘Days of Our Lives’ Actress Arianne Zucker Sues Show’s Producer for Sexual Harassment
Days of Our Lives star Arianne Zucker has filed a lawsuit claiming she and others were sexually harassed by the show’s co-executive producer, Albert Alarr.
Zucker played Nicole Walker on the NBC daytime soap opera for more than 25 years until her character was written off the show last year. Her lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, alleges Alarr, who exited the show last summer amid a misconduct investigation, excessively filmed aggressive sex scenes and threesome sequences. Per the complaint, he once told Zucker’s co-star, “Believe me, I’d love to switch positions with you” while filming a scene.
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The suit also claims that Alarr routinely made sexual comments, tightly hugged Zucker and other women and bullied female employees. Alarr would allegedly sit in a booth to watch sex scenes being filmed, often offering directions like “fuck him like you were younger,” the complaint says.
Zucker says that she reported the alleged misconduct to the head of the show’s production company, Ken Corday, who allegedly declined to address the misconduct after an investigation. She claims her pay was cut in retaliation for coming forward. Her character was written off the show in June 2023.
The suit claims Alarr was only fired after media reports surfaced regarding his investigation and that Zucker was forced to keep working closely with Alarr amid the probe.
Alarr’s attorney Robert M. Barta issued a statement following the suit that reads in part, “As Albert said when Ms. Zucker first leveled these outrageous claims through the press last year, her baseless allegations were examined in a detailed and entirely independent investigation that lasted for two months. Dozens of individuals cooperated and every claim was thoroughly looked into. At the end of that process, the decision was made that Albert should continue in his role as Co-Executive Producer of Days of Our Lives.”
Alarr worked on Days of Our Lives for 20 years before his departure in August 2023, which came after a Deadline report revealed an internal misconduct investigation by Sony Pictures Television showing that he had been accused of creating a toxic work environment.
Alarr, Corday and Corday Productions are named in the complaint.
Feb. 8, 2 p.m. Updated with Alarr’s statement.
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