Earlier this year, actress Jen Richards was excited. Already known for her roles on Nashville and her Emmy-nominated web series Her Story, she was set to be one of the primary voice talents in Louis C.K.’s new animated police show for TBS, The Cops. It was going to be a big moment: a trans actress voicing an animated trans character on a cable television show, playing opposite the voices of the famed comedian and his co-lead, Albert Brooks. Then, on November 10, the day after The New York Times published its story featuring five women accusing C.K. of sexual misconduct, TBS announced it would suspend production on the show “until further review.”

“I know this isn’t about me, but I was really excited to voice a cartoon character,” Richards wrote on Twitter. “To have a badass, openly trans character on network t.v. would have been awesome. Oh well.”

Richards, who declined additional comment, wasn’t the only one mourning the end of The Cops, even as she and others continue to support the women who came forward with allegations. Close to 100 employees—animators, storyboard artists, and other creatives—were laid off from the show on November 13. Many were paid through the end of the week, but all were left to find new income at an inopportune time: the start of the holiday season, a period when few television and movie productions are hiring. (Things are even more grim in animation, where many employees predict they will be forced to find freelance work until March, when new animation projects are green-lighted.)

“This is by far the worst time to find new work,” says art director Francis Giglio, who started on the show in July and hoped to be working until at least April or May, or perhaps even longer, if TBS decided to pick up the irreverent comedy for another 10-episode season. Now Giglio, who completely redesigned the look of the show from its original pilot and oversaw much of its 40-person staff for production company Starburns Industries, is frantically forwarding his portfolio to other shows.

“What’s sad is the show featured a diverse cast on the screen,” says Giglio. “Gay, lesbian, transgender. It was a really good representation of a positive Los Angeles community. It’s sad to see that it’s not going to see the light.”

In the past two months, Hollywood has had to confront a wave of sexual harassment and abuse allegations. The response to the alleged behavior of Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, and Kevin Spacey, among many others, has been swift and just, but painful nonetheless. Shows have been canceled, movies shelved, awards reneged. While the victims recover from sharing their stories publicly, rank and file employees have lost their jobs, their work never realized.

“It’s a huge disappointment. It was nice to put something together that was so progressive. It was exciting to see that in television,” said Kelani Lim, animator at Bardel Entertainment. “But I’m also very supportive of the women coming forward. I can’t imagine the distress they went through all this time. As distressing as it’s been [for me], if it meant me losing my job for them to come forward, I would be happy to do it again.”