Fred Savage has been fired from The Wonder Years reboot following an investigation into multiple complaints of misconduct in his role as executive producer and director.
“Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,” a spokesman for Disney’s 20th Television said in a statement to Deadline Friday.
“Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.”
Deadline reported that Savage—who appeared in the original ’80s series—exhibited inappropriate behavior and had verbal outbursts throughout production.
Savage played Kevin Arnold in the ’60s and ’70s-set show for six seasons from 1988-1993. He was the youngest actor ever to be nominated for an Emmy award when he started on the show aged 12. The reboot, of which Savage directed eight episodes, depicts a Black middle-class family in the 1960s.
This isn’t the first time Savage has been accused of misconduct. His co-star from The Wonder Years, Alley Mills, who played his mom Norma, said in 2018 that the original show was canceled after a former costume designer filed a sexual harassment suit against Savage, then 16, and fellow co-star Jason Hervey, then 20. The suit was settled out of court.
Left to right: Josh Saviano, Alley Mills, Dan Lauria, Olivia d’Abo, Fred Savage and Jason Hervey from The Wonder Years.
ABC Photo ArchivesMills did however go on to dismiss the lawsuit as “ridiculous,” saying that Savage was the “least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth.”
Monique Long, the woman who accused the then-16-year-old Savage, told Deadline he and Hervey were “verbally and physically harassing her.”
In response to Mills dismissing her claims, she told Deadline, “My only response to Ms. Mills’ slander is that it proves exactly why women in the industry are forced to remain silent about sexual harassment.”
In 2015, a female crew member who worked on Savage’s show The Grinder also accused him of attacking and harassing her on set. However, Savage was cleared following an investigation and called the allegations “completely without merit and absolutely untrue.”
Savage is married to real estate agent Jennifer Lynn Stone and they have three children. He is yet to respond to his dismissal or the allegations.
