What Happened To Mark Steines On The Hallmark Channel?
After six years on "Home & Family," Mark Steines made an abrupt exit from The Hallmark Channel ... but what really led up to his sudden departure?
As a refresher, back in 2018, many were left stunned when it was announced that Steines would no longer be on the talk show — including the man himself. As a representative for Steines told Deadline, he only learned that he'd been fired on his last day. That meant he never even had a chance to bid the audience goodbye and his co-star, Debbie Matenopoulos, was tasked with doing it the next day. Only adding to the confusion surrounding the situation was the fact that Steines still had months to go before his contract ended ... and that's where things took an even shadier turn.
Steines' representative told People that the network offered some "vague reasons regarding 'creative,'" for his axing. However, they were quick to rubbish the suggestion, pointing out that during his tenure, the show had been nominated for a whopping three Emmys — the third of which came shortly before his firing. Furthermore, they complained, "We know ratings have been up." Despite that, months after his exit, Crown Media Family Networks (now officially renamed Hallmark Media) did indeed claim, "Third party research indicated that Mr. Steines was perceived negatively" (via Deadline). It's pretty clear that something went down behind the scenes — but what was it?
Mark Steines accused Crown Media of retaliation
This slide includes mentions of sexual harassment.
For a bastion of "family values," The Hallmark Channel certainly seems to have an exceptionally shady side.
A few months after news of Mark Steines' firing broke, the former "Home & Family" host took legal action against his former employer in September 2018 — and not just because of a breach of contract. His complaint? He alleged the network was retaliating against him for sticking up for survivors of workplace sexual harassment. In a statement shared with People, Steines' attorney Lisa Bloom explained, "Mr. Steines alleges that in the summer of 2017, he stood up in support of two women who brought sexual harassment claims against the show's then executive producer, Woody Fraser." The statement continued, "He alleges that after he did, everything changed, with the network taking away his voiceover work, diminishing his role on the network, reducing his profile at industry events, cutting his salary by 25%, and ultimately firing him." In other words, Steines believed the network was doing everything in its power to not only phase him out, but also discredit him in the process. Crown Media vehemently denied said allegations, chalking it up to a "strategic" response to the show's poor ratings (via Deadline) — the same ratings Steines' representative told People were on the rise.
Per Deadline, Crown Media eventually tried to have the lawsuit dismissed, though their motion was denied by the judge, who believed there was a strong case against them.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
However, Mark Steines' case was ultimately dismissed
Despite all the drama surrounding Mark Steines' scandalous allegations against The Hallmark Channel and Crown Media, the case was ultimately dismissed at the request of both parties.
In a 2020 court order, District Judge Cormac J. Carney revealed that both Steines' team (which had been replaced after Lisa Bloom was disqualified from the case for her former relationship with the media company, as Law360 reported) and Crown Media agreed to "bear its own costs and fees." It seems likely they settled out of court, though neither Crown Media nor Steines have publicly commented on the matter since.
We may never know what went down between Steines and his former employer, but either way, in wake of the fallout, he moved on to different projects. In 2019, he joined forces with Nat Geo Wild for "Animal ER Live." In a statement shared by the channel, Steines was quoted as saying, "I'm thrilled to partner with Nat Geo WILD and Big Fish Entertainment on this exciting new series." The subsequent years have certainly been tumultuous for the longtime broadcaster, but whether he's on "Home & Family" or "Animal ER Live," something tells us his fans are simply happy to keep seeing him on their screens.