Susan Olsen, best known for her role as Cindy Brady on The Brady Bunch, claims that CBS canceled a revival of the sitcom because of her political views.
In a new interview, Olsen said the sequel was canceled because of her support for Donald Trump, her views on coronavirus vaccines, and her stance on the LGBTQ+ community.
“What kind of show would this be if I couldn’t say anything controversial because that’s what I was trying to portray?” Olsen said on the Walk Away Campaign podcast.
In the latest Brady Bunch series, Olsen will reprise her role as Cindy Brady, playing a libertarian podcaster.
“I was on the phone with my (TV) brother and my agent, and everyone was like, ‘Sorry, they’re not doing anything.’ They’re not going to let you participate in this. It was like, wow, it got canceled,” she said. “It’s a role I’ve been playing for over 50 years, but I can’t play it now because it’s too dangerous. I was like, ‘Well, okay, good luck, I hope it sells.’ ”
About a year later, Olsen had a video call with what she called the “Inquisition,” made up of showrunners, producers and Sherwood Schwartz’s son, about how to move forward and placate the network. I remembered what we talked about. The actress said they questioned her stance on political issues and continued to agree with her opinions, stating that she “drank every drop of the Kool-Aid.”
Olsen said she fought back by saying, “We now know that vaccines are neither safe nor effective.” The topic of transgender children also came up during the conversation, with the Brady Bunch reboot producer mentioning the suicide rate among children who don’t have access to treatment. Olsen pushed back, saying, “Imagine” the suicide rate among people who have undergone gender reassignment surgery, and said she later regretted it.
Olsen revealed that one of Jean’s children was going to be transgender in the Brady Bunch revival, saying, “There was also a black spouse. And I was like, ‘Hey, don’t be so overt. I thought, “Let’s just…let’s make this black spouse someone who has a really close relationship with another Brady, and that’s how this Brady met them.” Give them a platform so this doesn’t become a token position. ”
Olsen discussed “tokenism” and denied systemic racism, saying the United States “elected a black president twice.”
In 2016, Olsen was fired from LA talk radio’s Two Chicks Talkin’ Politics for sharing anti-LGBTQ views on social media.
LA Talk Radio said in a statement in 2016: “We do not tolerate hate speech by station personnel and have severed ties with hosts who stray from our direction.”
“I did a web search and found 50 pages of comments she had made on social media,” Olsen said, “and the results were, ‘No, we can’t have her on the show.’ It was,” he said. If we go forward with this project, it won’t be with her. ” “
The actress added, “Honestly, those 50 pages were my biggest hit.” I stand by everything I say, I don’t just say something. ”
