Disney is cutting ties with Fred Savage following multiple complaints of misconduct in his role as executive producer and director on the freshman ABC comedy series The Wonder Years.
A spokesman for 20th Television told Deadline,
Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years,”
The Wonder Years is a reboot of the beloved 1988 series which starred Savage.
Details about the nature of the allegations are unclear, but I hear they included verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior.
Savage has been the subject of misconduct accusations in the past. According to Deadline,
- In 2018, The Wonder Years actress Alley Mills came forward with claims that the cancellation of the original series followed a “completely ridiculous sexual harassment suit” filed by a costumer against Savage (then 16) and Jason Hervey (then 20), which Mills, who played Savage and Hervey’s mother on the show, said was settled out of court.
- The same year, a crew member on Savage’s Fox series The Grinder filed a lawsuit, accusing the actor of attacking and harassing her on the set of the series in 2015. That lawsuit also eventually was settled out of court.
Savage has been primarily working behind the camera as a director.
On the new Wonder Years, he directed eight episodes in Season 1, including the pilot, in addition to executive producing the show, which follows the Black middle-class Williams family in Montgomery, AL, during the turbulent late 1960s.
Fred Savage Fired As ‘The Wonder Years’ EP/Director Following Investigation Into Inappropriate Conduct https://t.co/Atx8FSI1aD
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) May 7, 2022
(via Deadline)
