Degrassi co-creator Linda Schuyler has filed a lawsuit to halt the Saturday premiere of Degrassi: Whatever It Takes at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Schuyler is suing the producers of Degrassi: Whatever It Takes, alleging that “defamatory statements and innuendo” in the film lead viewers to believe she created an “empire” that profited at the expense of the show’s young actors.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in Ontario. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The suit names as defendants the Toronto film and TV production company WildBrain, owner of the Degrassi franchise, and Toronto production house Peacock Alley Entertainment. Neither company provided immediate comment.
Representatives for TIFF also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a version of the documentary provided to the media, some of the show’s early cast members say they were not paid much despite the franchise’s success.
Dayo Ade, who played B.L.T. on Degrassi High, says he ended up taking “every job under the sun” in the years that followed, including at a car rental and security company.
“People are under the assumption that we are millionaires, we have money for the rest of our lives. Couldn’t be more wrong,” Ade says in the film.
“I’m not going to throw a number out there. I’ll just tell you this: it was nowhere near what people thought we were making. You’re going to bleep this part out. We were paid way too (expletive) nothing.”
Amanda Stepto, who played Spike, adds her perspective about working on the show in the 1980s.
“On Degrassi Junior High, I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say it, but I remember 50 bucks a day, or something like that. It’s not a lot of money.”
“And also, being on a non-union set we weren’t allowed an agent or a lawyer or all those things that would be looking out for me professionally when it came time to payment, residuals and all those other things,” she said.
“When it first started, none of them would’ve known the success it would’ve been, but it grew into an empire. And there are definitely individuals who have made money off of the empire.”
The film then cuts to close-up shots of the show’s various awards, including two Emmys, and the cover of Schuyler’s 2022 memoir The Mother of All Degrassi.
Schuyler’s lawsuit disputes the payment claims, stating that the early actors received a “generous compensation package” that was much higher than $50 a day and more than union rates at the time.
Schuyler sold her production company Epitome Pictures, including rights for Degrassi, to WildBrain 11 years ago.
She appears in the documentary to share memories of making the influential show, but is not shown onscreen addressing the payment allegations.
“It’s really interesting to develop a correct perspective now in terms of what was going on in the 1980s,” Schuyler says in the film.
“You do the best you can with what you’ve got at the time. For our young performers, some of them have done well and others, it has been a disappointment for them, and I’m really sorry that they feel disappointed. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help with that.”
On TIFF’s website, programmer Jason Anderson credits the doc with “delving into thornier matters, like some actors’ misgivings about what the show demanded of them and how little they were compensated.”
Degrassi: Whatever It Takes is set to screen Saturday and Sunday at TIFF.
