Fox has claimed that Alf Clausen, the composer who worked onThe Simpsons for 27 years, was fired because he was secretly delegating his work to his son.
Clausen, who left the show in 2017, sued Fox last summer, claiming that he was fired due to his “perceived disability and age”.
In new court documents filed by Fox and Simpsons executives seen by The Hollywood Reporter, producers say Clausen was dismissed because he was unofficially delegating his work to others, including his son Scott.
According to a statement filed by producer Richard Sakei, tensions between Clausen and Fox came to a head in 2016, when a hip-hop themed Simpsons episode titled “The Great Phatsby” was being made.
Sakei said his fellow producer, James L Brooks, “questioned whether Clausen was the right person to prepare rap music and questioned his work more generally”.
He added: “Around that time, I learned that Clausen had been delegating some of the work of composing music for The Simpsons to others, including his son Scott Clausen.
“I believed his unauthorised delegation was unacceptable. I called showrunner [Al] Jean and told him that Clausen had been delegating his composing work; he conveyed to me that he was surprised and disturbed as well.”
Eventually producers decided they “could improve the music on the show by replacing him”, said Sakei.
During his time working on The Simpsons, Clausen scored more than 560 episodes and was nominated for 21 Emmys, winning two.
