Fred Savage Fired From The Wonder Years After Investigation Into Inappropriate Conduct

Fred Savage has been fired from "The Wonder Years" reboot, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The former star of the 1988 coming-of-age series was working as an executive producer and director on the ABC show's reboot, which began in 2021.

According to THR, three separate allegations were made against Savage, and an investigation has already been launched and concluded. The actor-filmmaker was dismissed based on the results of the investigation. A statement from 20th Television says the following:

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.

A history of allegations

No parties involved have publicly shared details about the allegations against Savage at this time, so it's impossible to comment on the nature of this situation. However, this isn't the first time the actor, whose childhood rise to stardom also included a turn in "The Princess Bride," has been entangled in an incident like this. In 1993, costume designer Monique Long filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against a then-16-year-old Savage and his co-star Jason Hervey (per Vanity Fair).

In 2018, fellow "The Wonder Years" actor Alley Mills told Yahoo that she thinks the original run of "The Wonder Years" ended due to the lawsuit, in which Long alleged physical and verbal harassment from the actors. Now, Savage has been ousted from the new iteration of the show, which has not yet been renewed for a second season.

Savage was also sued in 2018, by a costume designer on the set of the show "The Grinder." In the lawsuit, which named both Savage and Fox itself, Youngjoo Hwang alleged that the actor hit her arm and yelled at her, and that he "engendered a hostile environment for women," according to THR. Savage denied these allegations in a statement at the time, and Fox's investigation found no wrongdoing.

Although the complete lack of detail related to Savage's dismissal may seem unusual (it's unclear if the most recent allegations are verbal, physical, or sexual), this isn't the first time in recent memory that a network or studio has decisively handled a misconduct claim without sharing any context. In April, news broke that production on Aziz Ansari's feature, "Being Mortal," was halted after a claim was brought against Bill Murray. Though Murray later gave some details about his side of the story, Searchlight Pictures kept their statements vague, saying, "After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time."

"The Wonder Years" airs Wednesdays on ABC.