Fred Savage has been fired from his role as a director and executive producer on the Wonder Years reboot, Disney-owned TV studio 20th Television confirmed to press this weekend. Per Deadline, Savage’s removal from the show came about after an investigation into inappropriate conduct on the show’s set; details of the accusations against Savage have not been released, although Deadline quotes unnamed sources who described them as “verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior.”
Here’s a spokesperson for the studio, confirming the news:
Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.
Deadline notes that the studio has declined further comment, and that Savage has, so far, not responded to requests. This is not, as it happens, the first time Savage has been accused of inappropriate behavior on a TV set in recent years; he was sued in 2019 after a crew member on The Grinder accused him of abusive behavior on the Fox show’s set. Savage denied any wrongdoing in that incident, and an investigation by the studio ultimately found no problems with his behavior. The suit was eventually settled out of court.
Savage—whose primary career, in recent years, has been directing TV—directed the pilot, and a number of subsequent episodes, of the new Wonder Years, which is still in the midst of airing its first season on ABC. Like the Savage-starring original, the series takes place in the late 1960s, this time centered on the Williams, a Black family living in Montgomery, Alabama. Elisha Williams, Dulé Hill, and Saycon Sengbloh star, with Don Cheadle serving as the series’ narrator. It’s not clear yet whether the series will move forward with a second season at the network.