Tristram Shapeero is the British director who mocked Lukas Gage over Zoom

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Late last week, Euphoria actor Lukas Gage posted a short video to his social media. It was a clip from an audition Gage had done over Zoom. During the pandemic, many actors have been auditioning over Zoom, so I wouldn’t imagine it was anything particularly unique to Gage. The clip Gage posted was a British-accented director mocking Gage’s apartment, apparently not realizing that his microphone was not muted. The director was apparently disgusted at the idea of Zooming with “poor people” and their “tiny apartments.”

Gage didn’t name the director and many people thought it was Matthew Vaughn, a British producer/director of films like Layer Cake, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass and Kingsman. But apparently it’s not Matthew Vaughn. It’s Tristram Shapeero, a television director. He was first contacted by the Daily Mail and it did not go well:

Tristram Shapeero defended his comments overheard in a Zoom call with actor Lukas Gage, claiming that he ‘didn’t say anything bad’ in his remarks on the size of Gage’s apartment. The British director, 54, is believed to be the industry pro, who on a Zoom stream with the actor, 25, that said ‘these poor people live in these tiny apartments’ – not realizing that he could be overheard with the ostensibly-offensive comments.

Shapeero initially blanched at the idea of speaking with a photographer, saying, ‘I’m on the phone with my brother at the moment so I have no comment to make it this time.’ When prodded further, Shapeero said he felt no need to say sorry because he wasn’t in the wrong.

‘I don’t have any apology because I didn’t say anything bad, and you have to look up the definition … it was three months ago,’ said Shapeero, who’s directed for shows such as Community, Never Have I Ever, Superstore, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep. ‘The context of which it was said and the context of the meanings of the words need to be properly evaluated – that’s all I’m gonna say.’

Shapeero then said he was planning on issuing a formal statement to clarify his stance on the issue after conferring with public relations professionals.

‘Actually I’m not gonna say anything right now, because were talking to some PR people, but there will be a statement I’m sure at some point, but I’m not confirming,’ he said.

[From The Daily Mail]

Wow, what a horribly bad reaction! Everything checks out – a snooty dude who mocks “poor” actors for living in regular old apartments would obviously not believe he said anything wrong when confronted. So yeah, hours later, he issued a long-ass statement to Deadline:

You probably don’t know who I am, but you’re likely familiar with my story. An actor, Lukas Gage, posted a clip on social media taken from a Zoom casting he and I had been a part of back in August…. Despite what is probably wise advice: to say the least possible and let this pass, I have decided to come forward, take responsibility, make the apology Mr. Gage deserves, and offer some background for my unacceptable and insensitive remarks. I am Tristram Shapeero, a 20-year veteran television director, half in the UK, and the second half here in the US.

First and foremost I offer Mr. Gage a sincere and unvarnished apology for my offensive words, my unprofessional behavior during the audition and for not giving him the focus and attention he deserved. My job is to evaluate performers against the part I am trying to cast. Lukas deserved better. This Zoom audition took place in August, after four months of lockdown. A number of my co-workers were also on the auditions which happened over several days. It was emotional to see actors work so hard to win the few parts available and we were deeply moved by the passion of these young people under the extraordinary circumstances.

I was using the word ‘poor’ in the sense of deserving sympathy, as opposed to any economic judgment. My words were being spoken from a genuine place of appreciation for what the actors were having to endure, stuck in confined spaces, finding it within themselves to give a role-winning performance under these conditions. As I say on the video, I’m mortified about what happened. While I can’t put the proverbial toothpaste back in the tube, I move forward from this incident a more empathetic man; a more focused director and I promise, an even better partner to actors from the audition process to the final cut.

With humility and gratitude, Tristram Shapeero

[From Deadline]

LOL. I mean, maybe in the moment, Shapeero really did mean it sympathetically like “these poor actors” but I feel like Gage, in the moment, understood his meaning completely. Also, Shapeero didn’t feel that bad – he didn’t give Gage the part.

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Photos courtesy of Getty.

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50 Responses to “Tristram Shapeero is the British director who mocked Lukas Gage over Zoom”

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  1. Amy Bee says:

    It would have been better if he had said I was being a snob and I regret it.

  2. ABritGuest says:

    Loved how his snobby attitude was unwittingly exposed. The actor’s apartment was decent as well

  3. ThEHufflepuffLizLemon says:

    🙄 Obnoxious, successful, rich, white dude mocks people who aren’t living to the same standard, then releases weak statement “apologizing” for his comments and explaining how he wasn’t really in the wrong. I am sure we’re all shocked! 😂

  4. Rae says:

    As a Brit, I actually do use the word “poor” to say things like “you poor thing, are you not feeling well? Are your poorly?” So I actually do get what he is saying; it’s not always used to mean a lack of money.

    He came off as snob because of the comments about being able to see the TV in the background, etc.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      Yeah I agree, we don’t necessarily use it to talk about financial implications – but yeah he came across as a total snob.

    • mynameispearl says:

      Do Americans not say poor in that context too though, like oh those poor people, how sad etc.

      I thought when he said those poor people it was just said sympathetically. I didnt understand why the TV on the wall was a no no though? He should see my wee two-up two-down house and he’d really have something to get snobby over 😂

      • Becks1 says:

        No, we absolutely use poor in that context too – “oh poor you, sounds like you had a rough day” and it doesn’t have anything to do with finances. But its the “poor” coupled with the comment about the apartment that makes it sound so snobby.

      • Chaine says:

        Yes, Americans use “poor” in that context but it always carries a hint of condescension as well, IMO.

      • Gunna says:

        Actors would normally want a blank wall behind them for an audition like this. They’re usually real quick so you don’t want anything at all in the background that could serve as a distraction.

        It’s not about the TV particularly, but more so the fact that that being the closest he could get to a blank background really suggests it’s a tiny space like a studio.

    • Sarah says:

      Same, on the feel sorry for you ‘poor people’ comment (possibly) but the rest of it suggests the judgement that I am judging him right back for!

      • mynameispearl says:

        Weird, I mean, how did he even know that the room he was zooming from was his whole house? How can you make a judgement of a house from a room? And even if it is a one room apartment, I thought it looked nice, nicely decorated, bright and clean. I was really looking at it like, God if he thinks that’s a crap flat he should see mine 😂 what’s the issue with the tv on the wall, is that considered to be tacky or something?

    • Myra says:

      Lukas Gage appeared to be offended too from the look on his face. Sometimes intent doesn’t matter as much as impact.

      • molly says:

        Yep. Also, the first reaction of someone is almost always the most genuine. He doesn’t get points for this 320 word salad he paid someone to write. HIS thoughts were what he told the Daily Mail: “I don’t have any apology because I didn’t say anything bad.”

    • sarah says:

      I think what he said has been twisted out of context a bit. My impression of what he meant was essentially: god, I feel bad for these people (these poor people – not meant economically) who are stuck in small spaces in lockdown (I can see his TV therefore he must not have another room he can do the audition from). It is still super snobby though, because the second half has TONS of judgment.

  5. Noki says:

    HA Question is would Lukas Gage have exposed him had he gotten the role? Lol he waited until he heard he was not getting the part.

    • Darla says:

      Yep, what I was thinking.

    • Lucy2 says:

      I wondered that too, when I saw that it was from back in August! Why did you sit on it for several months and then post it? Honestly, I think he handled it very well in the moment, but putting it online like this makes me think a little less of him, likes it’s vindictive for him not getting the part.
      Clearly the director was in the wrong though, and it would’ve been a decent apology if he hadn’t basically denied any wrongdoing prior to that. Makes it clear his PR team wrote the actual apology.

      • Maxime duCamp says:

        This is all true but it’s bought Gage so much goodwill that I can’t find it in myself to hate his game. Getting acting jobs has to be as competitive as heck and so if this gives him an edge or gets him a job? Good for Gage. It could just as easily backfire; directors not hiring him because he spoke out though so it is/was a crap shoot.

      • BnLurkN4eva says:

        People should be allowed to tell their truth without being shamed for it. Lukas didn’t do anything wrong and he didn’t reveal who it was. He had every right to say what happened to him, it happened to him. I think we need to get away from this idea that we should suffer indignities in silence.

      • Myra says:

        I agree @BnLurkN4eva, it doesn’t matter why he waited. The director was wrong to make the comments in the first place.

      • lucy2 says:

        Certainly not trying to shame him or suggest he suffer in silence, just find the timing of posting it months later a little odd.

      • Godwina says:

        “Honestly, I think he handled it very well in the moment, but putting it online like this makes me think a little less of him, likes it’s vindictive for him not getting the part.”

        My feelings exactly, Lucy, on both counts. I wouldn’t want to work with either of them.

      • Kristen says:

        BnLurkN4eva: Just because something happened to you doesn’t mean the best choice is to publicly broadcast it on the internet. If the thing he was hoping for was an apology, he could’ve contacted the directed and conveyed how the incident made him feel. The main goal of posting the video seems punitive, especially because you’d never be sure whether an elicited public apology was genuine or performative.

    • Nanny to the Rescue says:

      The question is also how unemployable Gage made himself. The public might be sympathetic but a person who shares a blurb from a business conversation won’t necessarely recieve sympathy in the business afterwards.

      • Blinkbanana says:

        I don’t agree with him posting online. If I were his agent, I would be concerned about career backlash and people thinking he’s difficult. It’s a very small industry and the producers / directors at the top are all from the same sort of background. It’s fascinating watching them all come out to defend him, but I know for a fact they think he’s an idiot for posting that video. And WORSE things have been said about actors TO THEIR FACES. This seems tiny in comparison.

        Being an agent, and having worked with hundreds of actors over the years, this behaviour doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. It’s self-serving and attention seeking. But. He’s a white guy, and he’ll get work and it won’t affect him. And I’m glad this director was shamed into apologising. Maybe it’ll make them think about how they view actors for once.
        Now, if it had been a Black actor… I’m grateful it wasn’t a Black actor actually. This industry is tough enough 😔

  6. My3cents says:

    Poor shaming much?
    So many people lost their jobs or are suffering financial insecurity now. So many actors and people working in the arts are struggling to get by, How tone deaf and out of touch can you be to speak in such a way ?
    This is a truly let them eat cake moment.

  7. Dss says:

    Or these poor English men who have horrid teeth and the sex appeal of boiled potato.

  8. Sarah says:

    Yeah I don’t get much ‘humility’ coming from him.

  9. Izzy says:

    I’ve never even heard of this guy. I did understand his saying “poor” as referring to an expression of sympathy and not economic judgment, but it still sounds awful given what he was saying. Does Director Clueless think everyone lives in large manors? Has he never heard of a “flat”?

  10. vanna says:

    So I went and checked the Oracle of Bacon to figure out if Shapeero and January Jones had any direct connection. They do not. So can we exclude him as a potential baby daddy?

  11. SJ Knows says:

    Bad manners and judgmental attitude are unattractive and snobby.
    No to this director.
    Btw, I live in a house not nearly as nice as said apartment.
    Sh*t talking my house, which I’ve struggled deeply to keep after my divorce years ago, will not make anybody welcome here either.

  12. MerryGirl says:

    Why when people are hot mike-ed talking shit they turn around and get a PR firm to issue an apology they do not mean? He’s a shitty snob, end of.

  13. Tiffany says:

    He directed episodes of Superstore. Which touches on all the things he just turned his nose up at.

    How is that for irony.

  14. MissMarierose says:

    Kudos to the PR person who wrote that statement; it was well-written. It’s too bad Shapeero preemptively showed it to be completely antithetical to his real feelings on the subject.

  15. Marigold says:

    I thought he was saying poor not as no money but poor as in how sad that they have to live in such small places. I don’t see this as a big scandal. I think Lukas did more to hurt himself by posting it.

    • Blinkbanana says:

      Agreed. He looks petty and unprofessional. Which is a shame because he highlighted an important issue here. There would have been better ways to handle it. Everyone unfortunately is going to think twice about working with him, despite their faux public support. This is why actors need to let their agents handle shit smh

  16. Lala11_7 says:

    Him popping mess…

    WITH THAT GRILL?!? 😂😅😃🤪😛😄😝😡

  17. GuestwithCat says:

    Dude just say “I’m mortified that I unintentionally demeaned an actor who was auditioning for me in good faith to be judged on his acting and not his home. I was out of line to remark on his home at all and I sincerely apologize.”

    • lucy2 says:

      Right? It’s usually just better to simply admit it and be sorry.
      PR firms must get paid by the apology word.

  18. Wickster says:

    I believe him, and also took it as “Poor” as in unfortunate or sad. It’s the same thing my relatives would say in privacy about my living in NYC in small apartment at age 59, while they all have had homes since they were 25. I wouldn’t take it personally. Sometimes, really, we don’t have to jump all over people for saying goofy things. I once was on a Zoom call with girlfriends, and thought I muted myself when my husband called, and proceeded to tell him I welcomed the interruption as it was boring and…I was suddenly interrupted by a text from one of the friends: “Umm…we can hear you, please mute yourself”. It happens.

  19. Godwina says:

    I definitely took his “poor” to be sympathetic to people in certain overpriced cities stuck in apartments during a pandemic, but he’s still an ass.

  20. SO Dumb says:

    I feel badly for his poor teeth, that is all.

  21. Jenn says:

    I also took his comment to mean “my heart goes out to apartment-dwellers who have virtually no room to themselves during a pandemic,” but I don’t blame Luke Gage for being insulted — no one wants to overhear someone comparing their home unfavorably to a postage stamp. Hopefully the director has finally learned where the mute button is.