Photo: Stuart Wilson/Lionsgate TV/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Mark Schwahn, showrunner and creator of E! series The Royals, has been fired following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
"We have concluded our investigation and Mark will not be returning to The Royals," Lionsgate told Refinery29 in a statement. "The 4th season of the show has already completed production and will air as scheduled on E! in the spring."
At this time, Deadline reports no news regarding the series' fifth season has been released.
Schwahn was suspended from The Royals in November shortly after an open letter that accused him of sexually harassing women for years on the set of One Tree Hill went viral. The letter, inspired by former OTH writer Audrey Wauchope, who shared her experiences with Schwahn on Twitter, was cosigned by 18 members of the series' cast and crew, including Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush. The letter alleged all of the women were "manipulated psychologically and emotionally" over the course of nine years.
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In a showing of solidarity, the male stars of the show, including Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty, tweeted messages of encouragement.
Inspired by the women of OTH, The Royals star Alexandra Park tweeted that she, too, had "been exposed to this reprehensible behavior" and called for the creation of safer working environments. Twenty-five other women from the drama's cast and crew corroborated Park's experiences in their own open letter, alleging that Shwahn had a history of "repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members."
Schwahn is the latest high-profile Hollywood man fired in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. Last month Netflix announced it had severed ties with House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey following multiple accusations that he had harassed and assaulted men and boys, and CBS canceled its series Wisdom of the Crowd after a number of women accused star Jeremy Piven of gross misconduct.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).