Lenny Is 'Pursuing Other Opportunities'???

[Moth]

Lenny's "joke" was a reference to him being the pilot of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane back in March this year.

http://forum.shoppingtelly.com/foru...e-quot-Nina-Leonard-just-made&highlight=lenny

 

[Elliementary]

Ouch! I wonder if they canned him for having a sick sense of humour?

 

[Starlight]

He has a Facebook page and made a comment in September

Friends, thank you for such a warm welcome 'back'! While I'm not 'back' just yet, I will be! But in the mean time, please check out this fabulous video some old friends did! I love it! Share it if you can! And, it's true, what I do for a living is what I live for doing. My friends who have written to me here, everywhere, who have requested me, etc., keep that flame alive for me. Love, Lenny XO

Someone asked in reply to that post 'Where were you?' - his reply:

Oh! All the travel, not being with my wife and daughter, it really exhausted me over the years. I needed a bit of a hiatus if you will. Love you for asking. I will see you soon I hope!

 

[Starlight]

Just found this - Backstage.com ran an ad in October for castings for a TV host for Nina Leonard fashion - criteria was male/female 30-58, caucasian (how can they get away with this? Or can you specify race if it is for a 'casting'?)

8-12 hours a month in London, Milan, Beijing and Sydney, Australia. We need someone living in Europe, China or Australia already. Designer states 'This is live TV, so you need to know how to handle customers calling and unusual mishaps'

Hmmmm, he should know, Lenny has had a few of those 'unusual mishaps' :mysmilie_17:

http://www.backstage.com/casting/nina-leonard-tv-guest-host-48141/

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Would any of our forum members have applied if they had known? Go on, fess up!

 

[Ellaaa]

Just found this - Backstage.com ran an ad in October for castings for a TV host for Nina Leonard fashion - criteria was male/female 30-58, caucasian (how can they get away with this? Or can you specify race if it is for a 'casting'?)

Wow, a casting for a live TV presenter can't really specify race, that is discrimination.
Castings for films or story telling TV (drama, comedy etc) shows may specify race as it is linked to the story/plot/characters etc. (although technically in the UK it is still racial discrimination to specify race in any job advert). But to specify race for someone presenting on live TV, that is certainly illegal and you could take that advert to court if you were of non-caucasian skin tone and felt you were right for the job, as race is not essential to the role.

Perhaps the law is different in the US.

 

[Mazza]

That would be my understanding too,Ellaaa.

 

[Ellaaa]

Also specifying lower and upper age limits in job descriptions is not allowed. (unless the job involves doing things you're only legally allowed to do at certain ages, like selling alcohol for example)

How has his company got away with this ad?! It must be a US advert surely. There is NO WAY this passes UK guidelines. I shouldn't let it irritate me so much, but I am passionately against this sort of selective behavior that is based on a persons appearance/age/disability rather than their skill set and suitability for a job.

 

[Turandot]

I'm sure the law in USA is different,and each state has different laws too.

It seems really strange to us and it could not happen in UK unless there is a very good reason. Selling clothes wouldn't be a good reason.Im sure Lenny must have customers from all backgrounds so can't see the point really.

 

[Akimbo]

Whatever the reason for Lenny not appearing it is QVC's fault that, by saying virtually nothing about it, they fuel the scenarios and speculation in threads like this. The real reason may be really simple and dull, but the imagined reasons have taken Lenny from inappropriate behaviour, to serious physical or mental illness and encompassed a racist job advert. If Q had just announced the reason for Lenny not appearing (or allowed him to be frank about it on social media) I doubt anyone would bother to search the web and found the "caucasian" reference. I'm not criticising the thread's speculation, I'm criticising QVC for being small minded as usual.

 

[DunmowDizzy]

In the entertainment industry you can specify race, age etc so this may come under that. Also US is probably less PC than Europe.

 

[Weathergirl]

The agency that placed the ad may be based in the US but the ad is for a vacancy in London, Milan, Australia and somewhere else I think. The european vacancy requires the person to work in London, Italy and Germany. I am surprised that local laws do not apply to the vacancy advertised. If someone were to challenge this advert on the grounds of race, I would imagine there would be a jurisdictional point on which country's law applies to the advert. Also the advert is clearly a "sales" job on live TV. I would say that it is arguable that it does not fall into any exemption for the entertainment industry. I doubt that QVC could advertise for a white only presenter under a certain age. Nor could they advertise for a white camera man. Just because a job is in a TV studio does not make it entertainment. Any person suitably experienced can sell clothes alongside a presenter, whatever colour their skin is. However if there was a part in a film to play Nelson Mandela, they can advertise for a black actor, or a white elderly lady to play the Queen.

 

[Elliementary]

Debra's Canadian. Last time I checked, Canada was not part of Europe, Asia, or Australia. So, how did she get the job, when her home location does not meet the criterion?

 

[Weathergirl]

Think there was a vacancy for Canada too Ellimentary. Perhaps the person they chose is willing to do the whole globe ! for a job advertised at 12 hours a month that's a helluva lot of travel.

 

[Elliementary]

Yes, I wondered about the 12 hours, Weathergirl. Did they mean 12 hours in each country? Thanks for the info about the Canadian vacancy. I've only heard Debra talk about shows in the UK, Italy, Germany, USA & Canada, so maybe they have someone else covering China & Australia. I didn't know they were in Australia. I can see how all that traveling could be tiring; I wouldn't fancy it! I wonder if Lenny trained the new 'Brand Ambassadors' to say 'machine washable' in four languages?