Why the co-creator of Degrassi tried to stop screenings of the TIFF doc about the show

The world of Degrassi has no shortage of drama. But its latest behind-the-scenes plot twist has nothing to do with a zit-based disaster, a thong scandal or an exam-answers side hustle.

On Monday, the show’s co-creator Linda Schuyler, who’s been with the Degrassi franchise for more than four decades, filed a lawsuit with the Ontario Superior Court in hopes of halting future screenings of Lisa Rideout’s documentary Degrassi: Whatever It Takes. She also sued the film’s production company WildBrain for punitive damages. (Schuyler sold her production company and rights to Degrassi to WildBrain 11 years ago.)

Related: Drake is making a new Degrassi series and we’re here for it

Scheduled to have its world premiere at TIFF this Saturday, the doc is billed as a juicy tell-all from the now-grown child actors who worked on the show’s 500 or so episodes. Key cast and crew members featured include Kevin Smith, Dayo Ade, Amanda Stepto, Stacie Mistysyn and, of course, Toronto’s very own Aubrey Drake Graham. Over the 111-minute documentary, they tear up and confront—perhaps for the first time—how the angsty teens they played on screen can’t be neatly separated from their personal lives at the time.

However, that’s far from the only source of tension. Some interviewees also allege that, while on set, they had to prepare lunch and wash dishes, wear their own clothes, and read from scripts that seemed to come directly from their lives (a claim Schuyler denies). Most controversially, some actors claim that they were underpaid: Stepto alleges that she earned just $50 a day. Meanwhile, an unidentified voice in the trailer suggests that “there are definitely individuals who have made money off [Degrassi’s] empire.”

According to reporting by Cartt.ca, Schuyler participated in two interviews for the documentary but says she was never asked how she compensated actors or told about the claims made by Stepto and Mistysyn. Carrie Mudd, president of the film’s Toronto production company, Peacock Alley, allegedly showed Schuyler an early cut of the doc in August, leading Schuyler to be shocked at how she was portrayed.

Per Cartt.ca, Schuyler claims that she expressed concerns to Mudd, explaining that the doc seemed to imply she’d profited at the expense of child stars. Mudd allegedly rebuffed the concerns, saying the doc was a work in progress. Later, the vice-president of live action at WildBrain, Angela Boudreault, reportedly sent Schuyler a link with the revised cut and an invitation to the premiere. Again, Schuyler is said to have objected and urged Mudd to remove the allegations of underpayment. Mudd allegedly explained that the production team wanted to keep the actors’ stories intact.

On Wednesday afternoon, Schuyler, WildBrain and Peacock Alley released a statement that they’d agreed to add “some additional context” about compensation to child stars for future screenings. “From the beginning, it was important to me, and to the whole Degrassi team, to do what we could to set our young performers up for success,” said Schuyler. “The cast was paid much more than $50 a day. We 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.”

In other words, the lawsuit has been dropped, the show can go on and the drama can go back to where it belongs: the gossipy halls of Degrassi High.