The DEI wars raging in Red State America have made their long-awaited arrival in Hollywood. With the support of one of Donald Trumpthe closest collaborators of, a The SEAL Team an employee filed a discrimination lawsuit against CBS and Paramount Global claiming he was denied a writing position on the series because he was a straight white man.
“Defendants failed to hire or promote Mr. Beneker because of his race, gender, and heterosexuality,” the long-standing complaint reads. The SEAL Team Ben Beneker, script coordinator and freelance scribe, reads. Beneker claims in his complaint seeking a jury trial that he suffered from not being part of the “preferred hiring groups; that is, they were not white, LGBTQ or women,” and the “illegal politics” increasingly came under attack. diversityequity and inclusion measures.
Click to read Beneker's discrimination lawsuitwhich was filed last week in the U.S. District Court of California.
In fact, Beneker claims that in 2019 he directly asked The SEAL Team Showrunner Spencer Hudnut explains why a man was hired as an editor by previous showrunner John Glenn after Glenn told him “there were already too many writers and there was no room for CBS to hire him.”
“Hudnut indicated it was because he was black,” the complaint alleges, without any additional evidence.
“This balancing policy has created a situation in which heterosexual white men require 'additional' qualifications (including military experience or previous writing credits) to be hired as editors compared to their non-partisan peers. white, LGBTQ or female, who do not require such qualifications.' additional qualifications,” the filing adds, while also going after writing assistants and others who had been promoted.
While continuing his work as script coordinator, Beneker wrote three episodes of the series David Boréanaz-directed series in 2019. He has another one scheduled to air as the eighth episode of the upcoming seventh and final season of the series. In production, the script for season 7 was co-written by The SEAL Team co-EP Dana Greenblatt, a woman.
Against this backdrop, Beneker's lawsuit filed on February 29 seeks $500,000 in alleged lost wages and “an injunction requiring Defendants to offer Plaintiff full-time employment as a producer.”
Backed by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller's nonprofit America First Legal Foundation, Beneker also wants the Federal Court to issue a declaratory judgment that “CBS's de facto hiring policy and Paramount Global violates…the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Additionally, he wants a “permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from violating applicable non-discrimination laws.”
Now let's get some real politics on the table.
Money is one thing, as are other demands for relief in Beneker's grievance-filled battle against Paramount Global's so-called “balancing policy.” However, he will almost certainly fail to secure an editorship on The SEAL Team: The series, currently in full production, will end next year after its upcoming seventh season on Paramount+. That means the show will be done and dusted long before the Beneker case goes to trial, let alone a verdict is rendered.
But Beneker and his lawyers at the America First Legal Foundation know that, and that's not the real goal of what is clearly another culture war launched from the Tinseltown arc during an election year. It's more than likely that the real goal is to score points against the source of some of the Democrats' biggest donations and strengthen the MAGA base.
Claimed in the 12-page complaint for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with their corporate inclusion and representation policies, CBS and Paramount Global declined to comment on Beneker's action today. If or when they do, this post will be updated.
Deadline also contacted the Hudnut agency CAA for a statement on the remarks and implications attributed to the industry vet in Brenker's lawsuit. If or when we receive a response from them, we will also update this post.
Beneker worked on The SEAL Team since 2017 and before that he was a scenario coordinator on Son of Anarchy, missing and other shows.
Explaining where it comes from and where it's going, Beneker is represented by the San Diego firm JW Howard Attorneys and the America First Legal Foundation.
Since the Supreme Court rejected affirmative action admissions policies at colleges and universities last year, AFLF has filed lawsuits against companies like Starbucks, Morgan Stanley and other companies in an attempt to to put an end to inclusion practices.
Specific to the entertainment industry, AFLF sued the owners of Facebook Meta, the Association of Independent Producers, and advertising agency BBDO on behalf of James Harker. The electrician, a white man, claims he was denied work and promotions because of ACIP's Double the Line policy, which aims to promote Black, Indigenous and people of color workers to management positions .
This latest case is ongoing.