Fred Savage has been fired as executive producer and director of ABC’s The Wonder Years reboot following allegations of misconduct, 20th Television confirmed on Friday. Savage starred in the original 1988 series as a child, and was executive producer and director of the 2021 reboot, which has not yet been renewed for a second season. “Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,†a spokesman for 20th Television said. “Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.†ABC and 20th Television have not provided further details of the investigation.
This is not the first time Savage has been accused of inappropriate conduct. Savage was previously accused of physical harassment on the set of The Grinder in 2018. The same year, Alley Mills, who played Savage’s mom on The Wonder Years, revealed that the show came to an end after six seasons due in large part to a sexual-harassment lawsuit filed against Savage and his co-star, Jason Hervey. Savage has not yet released a statement regarding his firing from The Wonder Years reboot. The attorney who represented Savage’s alleged victim on The Grinder told “Page Six,†“This was a long time coming and I am not the least bit surprised,†after news of Savage’s dismissal. She said that after filing the lawsuit in 2018, “we discovered that there was at least one lawsuit that had been filed against him in the past and that Mr. Savage had allegedly engaged in this type of behavior not just towards my client but other women as well.†The Grinder lawsuit, which Savage settled in 2019, alleged that he “was known to intimidate, bully, and torment female crew members while they were doing their job duties by yelling things like, ‘I’m not a dog, quit f—ing following me!’ ‘Don’t ever even f—ing look at me anymore,’ and ‘Get the f–k away from me.’â€
This post has been updated throughout.