Mark Schwahn Suspended From ‘The Royals’ After ‘One Tree Hill’ Sexual Harassment Allegations

By Dave Nemetz, TVLine
Published Nov. 16, 2017, 9:34 a.m. ET

The fallout from the Mark Schwahn sexual harassment scandal has now reached his current series: Schwahn has been suspended from his role as creator and showrunner of the E! drama The Royals.

Lionsgate Television, which produces The Royals, announced the suspension in a statement, according to our sister site Deadline: “E!, Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television take sexual harassment allegations very seriously, investigate them thoroughly and independently, and take appropriate action. Lionsgate has suspended Mark Schwahn from The Royals as we continue our investigation.”

Following the suspension, The Royals star Alexandra Park, who plays Princess Eleanor on the series, came forward on Twitter to add her voice to the accusations against Schwahn: “I am devastated to admit to myself, to my colleagues and to this industry that I, too, have been exposed to this reprehensible behavior.”

The controversy around Schwahn began when writer Audrey Wauchope, who worked with Schwahn on One Tree Hill, accused him of serial sexual harassment during that show’s production. One Tree Hill stars Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz and more stood behind Wauchope, releasing a joint statement backing up Wauchope’s allegations.

Following those revelations, E! stated on Monday that they were “monitoring the information carefully.” Now Schwahn has been suspended, but it’s not clear how that suspension will affect The Royals: As Deadline points out, the show has already finished shooting its fourth season, which is still slated to air on E! next year.