“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” production coordinator Kim Alsup went viral on Twitter before the Netflix series even debuted when she revealed she was “treated horribly” on set. Alsup wrote that she was one of just two Black people on the set and that other crew members often called her by the other Black person’s name.
“They kept calling me her name. We both had braids, she was dark skin and 5’10. I’m 5’5,” Alsup wrote on Twitter. “Working on this took everything I had as I was treated horribly. I look at the Black female lead differently now too.”
Alsup’s tweet was posted Sept. 18, two days before “Dahmer” debuted on Netflix and would go on to top the streamer’s most-watched charts. Now the production coordinator has elaborated on her experience in a Sept. 30 interview with the Los Angeles Times. Alsup said she has not watched “Dahmer” on Netflix because it could be triggering for her.
“I just feel like it’s going to bring back too many memories of working on it. I don’t want to have these PTSD types of situations,” Alsup said. “The trailer itself gave me PTSD, which is why I ended up writing that tweet and I didn’t think that anybody was going to read.”
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Alsup, whose additional credits include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Inventing Anna” and “Dear White People,” called the production “exhausting” and added, “It was one of the worst shows that I’ve ever worked on. I was always being called someone else’s name, the only other Black girl who looked nothing like me, and I learned the names for 300 background extras.”
Alsup also told the Times that the “Dahmer” production had no mental health coordinators available, which is one reason she estimates the show had such an unsupportive work environment. Variety has reached out to Netflix for comment.
“Dahmer” is now streaming on Netflix.
Update: Alsup contacted Variety to say there were inaccuracies in the story, but declined to detail them.
