Further big-name drama happening at CBS of late: THR reports that the network has just fired its second major showrunner in recent memory, both reportedly over allegations of maintaining a toxic or abusive workplace and writers room. Specifically, it’s been reported that CBS Studios has just fired Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron from his role as showrunner on its long-running legal drama Bull, despite the fact that the Michael Weatherly-starring show was just renewed for its sixth season. (That’s a departure from how CBS treated younger legal drama All Rise last week, canceling it a few months after ousting Gregg Spottiswood as its co-showrunner.)
Of course, this isn’t the first time Bull has come under fire for this sort of behind-the-scenes drama: CBS was famously forced to pay actress Eliza Dushku a $9.5 million settlement after she alleged that Weatherly harassed her on the show’s set; she also accused Caron of writing her off of a potential regular role on the well-rated series pretty much the moment after she made her complaints against Weatherly known. (Caron denied at the time that the two incidents were linked.) These new investigations, though, are tied to the show’s writers room, where, similar to All Rise, the creator is accused of having “fostered a disrespectful work environment” where writers were often berated or yelled at for their work. (That’s per an unnamed team of writers on Bull who didn’t go on the record; writers on Caron’s previous series, Medium, echoed this assessment of his management style by name, categorizing his method of giving feedback as “cruel”.)
Caron has a long reputation for sets filled with conflict and friction; most notably, he famously left Moonlighting mid-way through its meteoric run after ongoing conflicts with Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd. He’s not the only person departing the series today, either: THR also reports that actor Freddy Rodriguez, who plays Weatherly’s former brother-in-law on the show, is also departing, also reportedly linked to a workplace investigation. No one involved in the show’s production has made a statement about the departures at this time.