Earlier this week, the Weinstein fire caught onto the pants of prominent showrunner Mark Schwahn when 18 cast and crew members came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment while at the helm of the hit show “One Tree Hill.”
The accusations started against Schwahn this past weekend when writer Audrey Wauchope reported on her Twitter feed various incidents of sexual harassment she witnessed during her tenure on the series, alleging he routinely touched women inappropriately to the point that some women would avoid sitting next to him on the couch. Wauchope’s allegations were quickly corroborated by 18 former cast and crew members in a letter published in Variety:
Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. 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. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.
All of the show’s female cast members signed the letter, including: Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India DeBeaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen and Allison Munn. Crew members who signed included Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley and JoJo Stephens.
Since the conclusion of “One Tree Hill” in 2012, Schwahn went to create “The Royals” for the E! network in 2015; he has since been suspended from that show as of this writing.
“E!, Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television take sexual harassment allegations very seriously, investigate them thoroughly and independently, and take appropriate action,” the network said in a statement. “Lionsgate has suspended Mark Schwahn from ‘The Royals’ as we continue our investigation.”
The investigation will probably not go over well for Schwahn, who has since been accused by “The Royals” cast member Alexandra Park of the same misconduct. Speaking on Twitter Wednesday, Park said, “I have a responsibility as someone who was working under Mark Schwahn on ‘The Royals’ to acknowledge these claims. I am devastated to admit to myself, to my colleagues and to this industry that I too, have been exposed to this reprehensible behavior.”
E!’s response to the allegations against Schwahn have also been called into question. Shortly before announcing his suspension, actress Sophia Bush called them out on Twitter for being “awfully silent” amidst the controversy: “Interesting that you publish all of these SA accounts, but not one corroborated by 18 women, 8 men, & counting, about a showrunner you currently employ? The first all-cast statement ever. Awfully silent, E.”
Schwahn is just one of two prominent showrunners from The CW to have the floodgates opened on their alleged sexual misconduct. This past Friday, “Supergirl” creator Andrew Kreisberg was suspended after 19 people accused him of sexual harassment.
