A 79-Year-Old Doing Hip-Hop? The Simpsons Is Where Free Speech Battles Age Bias Claims – Billboard
As the old saying goes, no business is like show business. For one thing, show business is speech business. But what acts by an entertainment producer are legitimately free speech, and what acts are plain ol' discrimination? That's not always clear. Just look at the ongoing case of Alf Clausen, the 79-year-old who was fired as Simpsons composer after 27 years of celebrated work on the animated classic. As his lawsuit heads toward an important hearing next week, Clausen looks to undercut Fox's positioning that this dispute relates to an important First Amendment issue.
Clausen is suing Disney and its Fox divisions with the claim that his termination was due to age and disability discrimination. The musician says he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and he objects to how Si...