Recently, TV writer Audrey Wauchope shared some stories of sexual harassment she experienced and witnessed while working on One Tree Hill, accusing that show’s creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn of touching women without their permission, making inappropriate comments, and sharing a nude photo of a woman he was having an affair with without her permission. Schwahn is the creator and showrunner of E!’s The Royals these days, and The Hollywood Reporter says that he has now been suspended while E! and production company Lionsgate Television can investigate the allegations against him. In a statement, E! says that it takes “sexual harassment allegations very seriously,” and it will “take appropriate action” if necessary.
After Wauchope shared her allegations on Twitter, the cast of One Tree Hill put out a joint statement standing by Wauchope’s claims and adding that Schwahn had also manipulated them “psychologically and emotionally.” Before Schwahn was suspended, One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush also questioned why E! was being “awfully silent” on the matter.
THR says that production on The Royals will not be impacted at all, as filming for the show’s fourth season was completed in September.