Mark Schwahn has been fired as showrunner from E! drama The Royals following allegations of sexual misconduct from various women.
Actress Hilarie Burton was among 43 women who came out against Schwahn. She alleged he forcibly kissed her twice during her time working with him on ‘One Tree Hill.’ Eighteen women from that show, as well as 25 women from ‘The Royals,’ accused Schwahn of varying degrees of sexual misconduct.
‘We have concluded our investigation and Mark will not be returning to ‘The Royals,” a spokesperson for Lionsgate TV said in a statement to Variety. ‘The fourth season of the show has already completed production and will air as scheduled on E! in the spring.’
Mark Schwahn has been fired from his job producing E! drama The Royals due to allegations of sexual misconduct by cast members from the show as well as his former show One Tree Hill
Schwahn hasn’t responded to the allegations, and his representatives did not respond to a request for comment by Variety. The Royals was created by Schwahn, and its fourth season is set to premiere in March
Twenty-five cast and crew members of ‘The Royals’ also said in a letter to Variety that Schwahn engaged in ‘repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew.’
In another letter, 18 women from ‘One Tree Hill,’ made similar accusations.
In November E! announced Schwahn would be indefinitely suspended from the show as the investigation was underway.
‘E! Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television take sexual allegations very seriously, investigate them thoroughly and independently, and take appropriate action,’ the studio told Variety in a statement at the time.
‘Lionsgate has suspended Mark Schwahn from ‘The Royals’ as we continue our investigation.’
The decision comes after cast members from the Warner Bros TV drama One Tree Hill, including Hilarie Burton (left) and Sophia Bush (right), came forward to accuse Schwahn of sexual harassment
A letter, which was signed by 18 women on One Tree Hill was sent to Variety to accuse him of harassment after Audrey Wauchope, a former writer on the series, took to Twitter on Saturday to speak about her experiences with the showrunner
Schwahn hasn’t responded to the allegations, and his representatives did not respond to a request for comment by Variety.
The show, which was created by Schwahn, finished production on its fourth season in September. It is set to premiere in March, and tells the soap-opera fictionalized version of the story of the British royal family.
In the letter accusing the 51-year-old of harassment, 18 female actors, writers and crew members on the hit show ‘One Tree Hill’ that ran from 2003-2012 wrote they were harassed in some manner during their time working with Schwahn on the show.
In that letter, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz said they stood behind Wachope’s allegations about the 51-year-old.
‘Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally,’ the letter reads.
‘More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress. Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be.
‘Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe.’
In November E! announced that Schwahn would be indefinitely suspended from the show as the investigation into his actions continued
Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, as well as others from the show, wrote that they ‘have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope (pictured right) and one another’ following Wauchope’s statements made on Twitter
In a series of tweets, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching
In a series of tweets in November, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching.
‘To say we left that job demoralized and confused is also an understatement. One of the 1st things we were told was that the showrunner hired female writers on the basis of their looks. That’s why you’re here – he wants to f**k you,’ she tweeted.
She also talked about how Schwahn would allegedly show naked pictures of actresses he’d slept with to male staffers without the actress’ knowledge.
‘Men on staff were shown naked photos of on an actress he was having an affair with. Naked photos she didn’t know were being passed around.
‘Naked photos they didn’t want to see. This is such a violation, both to the actress and to the men forced to look and participate,’ she wrote.
The cast and crew members who wrote the letter supporting Wauchope said they are all ‘deeply grateful for Audrey’s courage’. Pictured cast members (l-r) Burton, Murray, Bush, Lafferty and Lenz
One Tree Hill aired from 2003-2012 and followed the lives of a group of young men and women growing up in North Carolina. Schwahn wrote and directed the series and worked as the showrunner for its eight-season run.
The cast and crew members who wrote the letter supporting Wauchope said they are all ‘deeply grateful for Audrey’s courage’.
‘For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe Women. We are all in this together.
Cast members Bush, Burton, Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn all signed the letter. Crew members, Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley and JoJo Stephens also signed the letter.