Warner Bros. Claims Fired ‘Fuller House’ Creator Harassed Female Staff About Orgies and Joked About Forced Hysterectomies

Almost a year and a half after Fuller House creator Jeff Franklin was removed from the Netflix sitcom, details about his firing are starting to emerge. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Warner Bros. executive recently filed a sworn declaration in the ongoing lawsuit between Franklin and his successor, Bryan Behar, that claims that Franklin was accused of improper behavior and sexual harassment by multiple female writers. The executive says that Warner Bros. first began investigating the producer in 2016, and they subsequently spoke to eight Fuller House staffers who alleged that Franklin bragged about orgies, complained about hiring women and people of color, stated that he wished for “all the women on [his] staff [to] get hysterectomies,” and more “toxic” behavior.

Franklin was fired from Fuller House in February 2018 after complains surfaced about his inappropriate behavior on set. The creator denied the allegations and accused Behar, who took over as showrunner for Season 4, of deliberately sabotaging him under the guise of the #MeToo movement. In April 2019, Franklin sued Behar, claiming at the time that the new showrunner “concocted a plan to compile unflattering and distasteful information about Franklin that was either fabricated or twisted versions of events and presented it first to the media and then to Warner Brothers in an effort to get Franklin thrown off Fuller House.”

In an attempt to get the lawsuit thrown out of court, Warner Bros.’ VP of Labor Relations Silisha Platon submitted a sworn declaration detailing the company’s years-long investigation into Franklin’s behavior. According to THR, Platon’s declaration claims that Warner Bros. first began investigating Franklin in 2016 (well before the rise of the #MeToo movement) after concerns arose about his inappropriate behavior. The Fuller House creator reportedly received verbal counseling after the investigation concluded, but in November 2017, new complaints were filed and a second investigation was opened.

THR reports that Warner Bros. interviewed eight female staff members who filed complaints about the “toxic work environment” created by Franklin. One woman reportedly said that the Fuller House boss “would talk about orgies he had over the weekend,” while others recalled moments in which he “complained about having to hire directors who were women or people of color.” The report also claims that Franklin had been heard “expressing preference for male writers, apologizing to his staff for not dating Jewish women, describing female directors as ‘all the same’ and making sexualized comments.”

“‘She’s one nose job away from a good f*** about one of the underage girls,'” Franklin was quoted as saying in Platon’s declaration.

On another occasion, he reportedly remarked about a female staffer, “‘She is probably going to be pregnant next season. I wish I could make all the women on my staff get hysterectomies.'”

Warner Bros.’ declaration also attempts to clear Behar’s name. Platon reportedly claims that Behar was interviewed, but his remarks were “‘not a substantial factor in my concluding that Franklin had created a toxic and inappropriate work environment.” According to THR, she continues, “Rather, Mr. Behar’s statements only corroborated some of the less serious statements made by the other witnesses, including Jane Does 1 through 7, about Jeff Franklin’s workplace conduct.”

Watch Fuller House on Netflix