Variety reports today that Mark Schwahn, the creator of E!’s monarchy-focused soap series The Royals, has now been fired from the network over a series of sexual harassment allegations. Schwahn was suspended from the show—which recently finished shooting on its fourth season—last month, after Audrey Wauchope, a writer on his previous series, One Tree Hill, came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior on that show’s set.
Wauchope’s accusations were corroborated by a number of her female associates on the cast and crew of the CW show, who issued an open letter a few weeks ago about Schwahn’s on-set behavior. “Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal,” they wrote. “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.” The letter also described the support network the show’s female participants put in place to protect themselves, and especially incoming members, from Schwahn’s allegedly abusive behavior.
E! has said that The Royals will air its fourth season as normal; there’s no word yet on what the show’s post-Schwahn fate will be.