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LOST: Damon Lindelof Addresses Controversy in 20th Anniversary Post

In a post celebrating its 20th-anniversary, LOST co-showrunner Damon Lindelof touched on the controversies surrounding the show's production.

It was twenty years ago today when the landscape of television changed forever. While that might be a line you've read or heard repeated time and time again, when it comes to series creators Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Co-Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's LOST, it's an understatement. So it's no surprise that Lindelof would take to social media to address the occasion – but his social media post turned out to be much more than that. Back in May 2023, Maureen Ryan's Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood made headlines with a chapter focusing on the series. In the excerpt posted by Vanity Fair, a number of allegations were leveled against the production, with individuals on both sides of the camera making claims of a "racist," "sexist," and general "hostile" & toxic work environment – and that the showrunners were allegedly either indifferent to what was taking place or feeding into it.

In a 2001 interview with Ryan for the book (the first of two interviews), Lindelof addressed the alleged problem on the set of the cult classic series. "My level of fundamental inexperience as a manager and a boss, my role as someone who was supposed to model a climate of creative danger and risk-taking but provide safety and comfort inside of the creative process—I failed in that endeavor." As for the overall rundown of allegations against him, Cuse, and the show, Lindelof shared that he was "shocked and appalled and surprised" by what he heard – swearing that he had "no recollection" of what was being alleged but also looking to make it clear that he wasn't accusing any of the allegations of being made up.

"I just can't imagine that Carlton would've said something like that, or some of those attributions, some of those comments that you [shared]—I'm telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things. And that's not me saying that they didn't happen. I'm just saying that it's literally baffling my brain—that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing," Lindelof explained. Earlier today, while celebrating the importance and impact that the series had, Lindelof returned to his time on the show to address the controversy.

"I don't remember some of my shittiest behavior – the clipshow we edit in our own minds is of our greatest hits, not our worst moments. I do remember that I made mistakes. Lots of them. And I remember that I hurt people. I was suffering and that was my justification for ignoring the suffering of others, even when I was causing it," Lindelof writes. "In the years since, I've made amends. Apologies are inauthentic without a full accounting, so that's what I tried to do. Some have granted me incredible grace. Others have made it clear they want to be left alone. The exquisite forgiveness and the justified anger… I must hold all of it."

Lindelof continued, "One of the most iconic lines from the show is when Jack Shepard shouts – 'We have to go back!' And I do. All the time. LOST is my constant… paradoxically the love of my love and the one that got away. But Jack says something else too. Looking for some bright side in the frightening aftermath of the crash, he sees an opportunity for a clean slate. 'We should be able to start over,' he says. So yeah, of course I have to go back…'"

Here's a look at what Lindelof had to share earlier today in honor of the anniversary of the show's debut 20 years ago:

On September 22, twenty years ago today, LOST premiered and my life changed forever.

I had just turned 31 and despite having surpassed my wildest dreams, I was absolutely terrified I was heading for the same fate as Oceanic 815, breaking apart in midair, crashing and burning in front of nineteen million people. For the next six years, I did whatever it took to stay in the sky.

When it was all finished, I was incredibly proud of what we had done together, yet I was fixated on seeking out the harshest criticisms of the show. In a way, reading that I was a liar and a fraud and a hack somehow felt… true?

I don't remember some of my shittiest behavior – the clipshow we edit in our own minds is of our greatest hits, not our worst moments. I do remember that I made mistakes. Lots of them. And I remember that I hurt people. I was suffering and that was my justification for ignoring the suffering of others, even when I was causing it.

In the years since, I've made amends. Apologies are inauthentic without a full accounting, so that's what I tried to do. Some have granted me incredible grace. Others have made it clear they want to be left alone. The exquisite forgiveness and the justified anger… I must hold all of it.

One of the most iconic lines from the show is when Jack Shepard shouts – "We have to go back!" And I do. All the time. LOST is my constant… paradoxically the love of my love and the one that got away. But Jack says something else too. Looking for some bright side in the frightening aftermath of the crash, he sees an opportunity for a clean slate. "We should be able to start over,' he says. So yeah, of course I have to go back…

But that doesn't mean I can't keep going forward. I'm a husband now. A father. A grownup. I'm grateful for the path that brought me here. A path across a weird, wonderful island. A path I'm still very much traveling.

So Happy 20th Anniversary, LOST. You were the man of faith to my man of science. The Penny to my Desmond. The live together to my die alone. Most of all, you were the light to my dark. And I will love you…

Always and Forever,

Damon

Lost: "The End" Was The Series Finale That The Show Needed

To be blunt, there are only two sides to the debate over the series finale, "The End" (directed by Jack Bender and written by Lindelof & Cuse). On one side, we have those who find it to be a beautifully crafted emotional hit to the feels that stayed true to both the show's creative vision and the faithful fans who remained committed to the series for six years. On the other side, those who are wrong. Look, we could be here all day picking apart the two-episode wrap-up – but instead, I'd like to hear from folks on how they would've wrapped up the series. And just so we're clear? You don't get to use dreams, Hell, aliens, or some other cheap "deus ex machine" because they cheapen everything we've experienced before it. Lindelof and Cuse crafted a finale that not only confirmed that what we were watching was real but that there were layers to what we were watching that we couldn't truly appreciate at the time. For me, a series finale that almost forces me to rewatch the entire series through a new set of eyes will always be a success in my book – which is why the Lost series finale sits at a 9.5 on our scale.

The cast of ABC's Lost included Matthew Fox (Alex Cross, Speed Racer) as Dr. Jack Shephard, Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man) as Kate Austen, Josh Holloway (Yellowstone, Colony) as James "Sawyer" Ford, Harold Perrineau (From, Claws) as Michael Dawson, Malcolm David Kelley (Insecure) as Walt Lloyd, Terry O'Quinn (Resident Alien, 666 Park Avenue) as John Locke, Naveen Andrews (Sense8, The Cleaning Lady) as Sayid Jarrah, Daniel Dae Kim (Avatar: The Last Airbender) as Jin-Soo Kwon, Yunjin Kim (XO Kitty, Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area) as Sun-Hwa Kwon.

In addition, the early episodes also introduced us to  Emilie de Ravin (Once Upon a Time) as Claire Littleton, Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings) as Charlie Pace, Jorge Garcia (Bookie, Hawaii Five-0) as Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) as Boone Carlyle, and Maggie Grace (Fear the Walking Dead) as Shannon Rutherford – and that was just to kick things off.

As the season rolled along, viewers got to know Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Henry (Michael Emerson), Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), Penny (Sonya Walger), and many… "Others." In addition, Julie Bowen, Katey Sagal, Lance Reddick, Mark Pellegrino, Alan Dale, Kim Dickens, Dylan Minnette, and many more also appeared as either recurring characters or meaningful guest stars.

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