TORONTO \u2014 A short-lived legal dispute between \u201cDegrassi\u201d co-creator Linda Schuyler and makers of the new documentary \u201cDegrassi: Whatever It Takes\u201d has come to an end, allowing its premiere to move forward at the Toronto International Film Festival.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement Wednesday, Schuyler and the documentary\u2019s producers said the world premiere will continue as planned this weekend.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes after Schuyler filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that \u201cdefamatory statements and innuendo\u201d in the film would lead viewers to believe she created an \u201cempire\u201d that profited at the expense of the show\u2019s young actors.<\/p>\n
The suit named as defendants the Toronto film and TV production company WildBrain, owner of the \u201cDegrassi\u201d franchise, and Toronto production house Peacock Alley Entertainment.<\/p>\n
As part of the settlement, producers of the documentary say they have agreed to add \u201csome additional context around the compensation paid to the performers\u201d after the film screens at TIFF.<\/p>\n
A representative for WildBrain declined to say whether the settlement included any other terms.<\/p>\n
In a version of the documentary provided to the media, some of the show\u2019s early cast members say they were not paid much despite the franchise\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
Dayo Ade, who played B.L.T. on \u201cDegrassi High,\u201d says he ended up taking \u201cevery job under the sun\u201d in the years that followed, including at a car rental and security company.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are under the assumption that we are millionaires; we have money for the rest of our lives. Couldn\u2019t be more wrong,\u201d Ade says in the film,\u201d Ade says in the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to throw a number out there. I\u2019ll just tell you this: it was nowhere near what people thought we were making. You\u2019re going to bleep this part out. We were paid way too (expletive) nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda Stepto, who played Spike, adds her perspective about working on the show the 1980s.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn \u2018Degrassi Junior High,\u2019 I don\u2019t even know if I\u2019m allowed to say it, but I remember 50 bucks a day, or something like that. It\u2019s not a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd also being on a non-union set we weren\u2019t allowed an agent or a lawyer or all those things that would be looking out for me professionally when it came time to payment, residuals and all those other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it first started, none of them would\u2019ve known the success it would\u2019ve been, but it grew into an empire. And there are definitely individuals who have made money off of the empire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film then cuts to close-up shots of the show\u2019s various awards, which include two Emmys, and the cover of Schuyler\u2019s 2022 memoir \u201cThe Mother of All Degrassi.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schuyler\u2019s lawsuit disputed the payment claims, stating that the early actors received a \u201cgenerous compensation package\u201d and more than union rates at the time.<\/p>\n
In her settlement statement, she added further context, saying that \u201cit was important to me, and to the whole Degrassi team, to do what we could to set our young performers up for success.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cast was paid much more than $50 a day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also created and contributed on their behalf to a retirement fund and a scholarship foundation that provided them with opportunities for counselling and supported them into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schuyler sold her production company Epitome Pictures, including rights for \u201cDegrassi,\u201d to WildBrain 11 years ago.<\/p>\n
She appears in the documentary to share memories of making the influential show, but is not shown onscreen addressing the payment allegations.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do the best you can with what you\u2019ve got at the time. For our young performers, some of them have done well and others, it has been a disappointment for them, and I\u2019m really sorry that they feel disappointed. I\u2019m afraid there\u2019s nothing I can do to help with that,\u201d Schuyler says in the film.<\/p>\n
On TIFF\u2019s website, programmer Jason Anderson credits the doc with \u201cdelving into thornier matters, like some actors\u2019 misgivings about what the show demanded of them and how little they were compensated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDegrassi: Whatever It Takes\u201d is set to screen Saturday and Sunday at TIFF.<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from Nicole Thompson in Toronto.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2025.<\/p>\n
David Friend, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 A short-lived legal dispute between \u201cDegrassi\u201d co-creator Linda Schuyler and makers of the new documentary \u201cDegrassi:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,337],"class_list":["post-134773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}