Elizabeth Hurley has claimed she wasn’t aware of alleged sexual misconduct by Mark Schwahn.
The 51-year-old Royals showrunner was suspended on Thursday after the cast of his old show One Tree Hill accused him of sexual harassment.
When Royals’ star Alexandra Park confirmed she too had ‘been exposed to this reprehensible behavior’, her onscreen mother published an open letter on Twitter claiming she had never witnessed anything in the four years the three worked together.
Elizabeth Hurley has claimed she wasn’t aware of alleged sexual misconduct by Mark Schwahn
She said she ‘felt sick’ she had missed it, and had let a younger cast member down, adding that she could and would have helped her but ‘I didn’t know’.
However shortly after the 52-year-old tweeted, a statement signed by 25 of her Royals co-stars and crew was released accusing Schwahn of ‘repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew.’
The Royals cast and crew statement, like Park, credited the bravery of the One Tree Hill statement for inspiring them to come forward.
‘Despite hearing rumours about his behavior on One Tree Hill those of us involved from the early stages went into the filming of the pilot hoping they were just that – rumours,’ they wrote. ‘By the time we wrapped this had irrevocably proven not to be the case.’
Mark Schwahn has been suspended from his job producing E! drama The Royals due to allegations of sexual misconduct by cast members from his old show
‘Where we should have been excited to meet new female cast and crew members, we felt nauseating concern in case they too should have him track down their mobile number,’ they wrote. ‘Where we should have offered our friends who auditioned for The Royals scene help and advice, we offered warnings about the man they would meet in the room.’
The statement was signed by ‘The Ladies of The Royals’: Hatty Preston, Sophie Colquhoun, Alex Watherson, Lydia Rose Bewley, April Church, Annalise Beusnel, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Florence Chow, Charlie Jones, Isabella Artitzone, Jade Armstrong, Rachel Walsh, Tania Vernava, Bonnie Vannucci, Merritt Patterson, Kate Benton, Jerry-Jane Pears, Jodie Simone, Kate Royds, Leonie Hartard, Lisa Mitton, Marie Deehan, Alice Woodward, Rachel Lennon, Kimberly Macbeth.
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
The obvious name missing from the list was Hurley’s, who according to her own statement, was completely oblivious to what was going on.
‘I have loved working alongside Alexandra and Mark for four years while shooting The Royals, and had absolutely no idea that she was feeling frightened and sexually intimidated by Mark during this time,’ she wrote.
‘I have never personally felt scared, intimidated, psychologically manipulated or been the recipient of inappropriate behavior in 30 years of making movies and television. This includes my years working closely with Mark Schwahn. yes, he flirts and tells risqué jokes — but so do I.
‘To hear that there was more than this is a shocking surprise. I never witnessed it.
She concluded: ‘I may have failed Alexandra but it won’t happen again on my watch.’
On Thursday E! announced Schwahn would be indefinitely suspended from the show as the investigation into his actions continues.
The One Tree Hill letter which was signed by 18 women on the show, 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.
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 Monday to accuse Schwahn of sexual harassment
A letter, which was signed by 18 women on the show, 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
In a series of tweets on Saturday, 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.
In a series of tweets, Wauchope said she and other women who worked on One Tree Hill, were often times subject to unwanted touching
‘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.
In Monday’s letter, the likes of Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz said they stood behind Wachope’s allegations.
‘Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally,’ the letter reads.
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
‘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.’
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.