A former Graziano colleague who had trouble moving beyond the assistant level met with the #SVU showrunner after she had recently worked on a series about women who pay their bills by stripping online. Graziano, she said, suggested she do the same. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
His advice, she said, was to charge showrunners and “let them do whatever” in exchange for money. When she asked him to explain what he meant by “whatever,” she said, he cited the web series and laughed. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
Shortly after the meeting, she shared the incident with two friends, who confirmed to The Times that she had told them about the meeting. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
While Graziano recalled the meeting, describing it as a friends’ catch up in which he also discussed her career, according to a person close to him, he did not remember making such a comment to her; suggesting that it sounded like a poor attempt at humor. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
At least one former television writer who worked with Graziano during this period characterized her time with him differently. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
ICYMI: Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) joined the L.A. Times Book Club to discuss her new book #OurMissingHearts, her writing process and why libraries are “radical” spaces filled with information. lat.ms/3W2o3yK
Ng’s foray into speculative fiction “sounds really different” from the Midwest suburban settings of her previous novels, she acknowledged in an a Times interview: “It’s not actually that dystopian. It feels scarily real.” latimes.com/entertainment-…
Ng published her debut novel, “Everything I Never Told You,” in 2014. She followed up in 2017 with #LittleFiresEverywhere, a bestseller that was adapted into a popular Hulu series starring Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon. lat.ms/3W2o3yK
#SVU showrunner David Graziano responds to claims made by former colleagues: “Though it would be easy and convenient, I refuse to blame some past behavior on the abuse I suffered as a child at the hands of a Catholic priest, as well as at home.” lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
“Anyone who has worked in a writers’ room will know it is a matter of course to draw upon and use your own experience for the good of the show,” Graziano said in a statement responding to claims former colleagues made about his productions. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
“Unfortunately, I have a lot to draw from,” he added. “And with it comes a great deal of emotion, pain and deeply felt personal history. All any of us can do is evolve and grow. Real change is hard, and I continue to work on myself daily.” lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
Hundreds of cannabis growers are entangled in a legal impasse that has kept many from planting and led some to consider joining a thriving underground economy that was supposed to decline after weed was legalized by Proposition 64.
Following a lawsuit, a Superior Court judge last year invalidated nearly all licenses to grow that had been awarded.
By early November, just 44 licenses to grow had been reapproved, and about 300 farmers are still waiting.
Councilmember Kevin de León showed up at the Los Angeles City Council meeting on Friday morning, appearing for the first time since fallout from a racist leaked audio tape roiled the city in mid-October.
Council President Paul Krekorian approached De León and spoke to him, then some of De León’s colleagues began leaving the chamber. A recess was called as protesters voiced their disapproval.
"Schizophrenia is a black box and although the diagnosis comes with a formal description, what I saw in Anthony in the course of our visits was more familiar: funny, smart, nervous, afraid, embarrassed, perhaps even frustrated," writes @tcurwenlatimes.com/california/sto…
"As he waited for his coffee and ate his coconut lemon bar, I wondered what assumptions I would make if I met him for the first time and didn’t know he had schizophrenia." latimes.com/california/sto…
Dispense with the label, and we all fall on a spectrum measuring degrees of mental illness and mental health. Some of us just need more help navigating a world that is scary, complicated and overwhelming. latimes.com/california/sto…
Former associates said Graziano objectified women, discussing them in tasteless, sexualized terms.
“He would talk in the writers’ room about how he might hit on women and how he would do it,” said a male writer who worked with the showrunner. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
The writer said Graziano used to run a line he’d use on women in bars in front of both sexes in the room, saying that “because we’re all just animals, one of the biggest indicators of sexual compatibility is actual smell.” lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv
Graziano then would demonstrate his technique, asking a woman to breathe in his scent and then offering to let her reciprocate.
“There was definitely a blurring of what’s appropriate and what was not at work,” the writer said. lat.ms/3Y4Eaxv