More than a decade after the end of the hit TV show Lost, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are facing accusations of a toxic working environment from former cast and crew members. In her book Burn It Down, television and film critic Maureen Ryan detailed the allegations made by other production members against Lindelof for racism and toxicity.

Lindelof expresses deep regret for not ensuring a safe and comfortable working environment for the show's writers' room during the six-season series. Some writers who worked on Lost sat down with the author to shed light on what truly happened behind the scenes.

One of these actors, Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson in the first two seasons of Lost, revealed that the writers and showrunners favored giving the white stars the majority of the important storylines. He pointed out that his co-star Daniel Dae Kim was known as "the Asian guy" and himself as "the Black guy," while the main plot focused on characters played by Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, and Josh Holloway.

Although Lindelof takes responsibility for the working environment, Perrineau recalls discussing these concerns with a producer during the show's airing.

The book also reveals that a writer on Lost raised concerns to their superiors about the treatment of the cast members of color. However, they were shut down and told that the leading characters were the "hero characters" and the others were merely filler.

Perrineau once approached Cuse about his character's lack of concern for his missing son. He expressed his discomfort with portraying a character who didn't care about missing Black boys, even within the context of fiction. Unfortunately, this turned out to be his last concern brought to the co-showrunner, as his character was written off the show after the Season 2 finale.