Fred Savage was fired from Wonder Years reboot after 'misconduct'
REVEALED: Fred Savage was fired from Wonder Years reboot after six women complained he ‘moved young female crew member into his Atlanta home’ behind his wife’s back and ‘followed another into a restroom and put her hand on his groin’
- Six women have come forward claiming Savage was fired from the Wonder Years reboot over complaints of sexual misconduct with crew members
- Several of the women said they grew concerned about the relationship between the married father of three and a young woman on the set
- Savage allegedly showered her with gifts and moved her into the home where he was staying at and filming the show from
- They said he was verbally abusive to her on set, and belittled one of them when they tried to stand in between them
- Another woman claims Savage assaulted her in a bathroom, forcefully kissing and touching her while he put her hands on his groin
- Savage has denied the allegations but says he plans to ‘address and change any behavior that has negatively affected anyone’
Six women have come forward saying Fred Savage was fired from the Wonder Years reboot because he was sexually harassing female crew members.
The married father-of-three, who rose to fame after starring in the original Wonder Years in 1988, was let go from directing the sequel on May 6, with Disney citing ‘allegations of inappropriate conduct,’ but refusing to elaborate.
The women who made those allegations want to make the details known, accusing Savage, 46, of moving a young female crew member into his Atlanta home and following another into a restroom and putting her hands on his groin, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After the story of Savage’s firing first broke, Page Six reported that the he was being supported by friends and family, including his wife of 18 years, Jennifer Lynn Stone. The article is what prompted the women to come forward to disclose their allegations, which Savage has denied.
‘I and the other women feel that people need to know what the wrongdoing was,’ one of the women said.
Six women have come forward with their allegations against, Fred Savage (left, pictured with wife Jennifer Lynn Stone), which include moving a young female crew member into his Atlanta home and following another into a restroom and putting her hands on his groin
The 46-year-old, who shot to fame while starring in the original 1988 sitcom, was said to have two faces while on set of the Wonder Years reboot. Pictured: Savage (left) with reboot star EJ Williams on set last year. Savage was fired from the show in May
Pictured: The Atlanta home where the show as filmed and where Savage allegedly lived together with a young crew member who women said he verbally harassed on set
In a statement over the allegations, Savage denied many of the claims against him, telling THR: ‘Since I was 6 years old, I have worked on hundreds of sets with thousands of people, and have always strived to contribute to an inclusive, safe and supportive work environment.
‘It is devastating to learn that there are co-workers who feel I have fallen short of these goals. While there are some incidents being reported that absolutely did not and could not have happened, any one person who feels hurt or offended by my actions is one person too many.
‘I will work to address and change any behavior that has negatively affected anyone, as nothing in this world is more important to me than being a supportive co-worker, friend, husband, father and person.’
Speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their careers, the six women said there were two sides to Savage that were constantly flipping back and forth: a supportive and charismatic director, and a dark and angry alter ego.
The women claimed that while Savage appeared to be all-smiles on set, he would sometimes verbally assault ‘below-the-line employees who don’t have power.’
Several of the women said they grew uneasy about Savage’s relationship with a young woman working on the crew, claiming she moved into the Cabbagetown neighborhood home in Atlanta where the reboot was being shot and that Savage occupied.
One woman told THR that the young crew member told her Savage was buying her gift and discussing a future together with her.
One woman said she tried standing up for the young crew member Savage was allegedly living with, but the director then belittled her. Pictured: Savage (left) with Williams and Saladin Patterson (right) on set of the Wonder Years reboot
Savage starred as Kevin Arnold in the original hit sitcom that propelled him to fame
Despite the alleged romance, several women said they observed Savage being ‘extremely controlling of her daily behaviors,’ describing him as ‘manipulative and erratic.’
They said the situation got so bad that one of them tried to shield the young crew member from Savage, at which point, ‘he proceeded to verbally harass me and belittle me,’ the woman told THR.
Another woman says she befriended Savage while on the set and the he invited her to dinners and offered her expensive gifts, which she refused.
Although the woman claims Savage was promising to help her apprising writing and comedy career, she said she was abruptly fired from the set last year.
Then, in December 2021, she said she was invited to a group outing at a bar in Astoria, Georgia, where Savage allegedly assault her.
The woman claims she was in the bathroom when Savage suddenly entered, causing her to try and laugh it off as she asked him to leave.
Instead, she said Savage had ‘dead eyes’ as he allegedly pushed her against the wall and started to forcefully kiss her and molest her.
‘I said, `Please, don’t do this,’ she told THR. ‘I meant ruining the friendship. I was pleading, not from fear so much, but this was no going back.’
‘He put his mouth on mine very forcefully. He went for the top of my pants. I brushed him away,’ she added.
‘Then he put his mouth on mine again, grabbed my hand and pulled it on his groin area. I was pulling back. He stopped very angrily. I shoulder checked him so I could get out.’
Savage is married to Jennifer Lynn Stone, and the couple has three kids together
The latest allegations against Savage come four years after his on-screen mother Alley Mills claimed the original Wonder Years’ cancellation ‘followed a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Savage (then 16) and Jason Hervey (then 20)’, which was settled out of court
After exiting the bathroom, she said Savage left the party with the young crew member he was allegedly living with.
The woman said that following the incident, Savage continued to text her to meet up and left a voicemail apologizing for what he did.
‘It’s your old friend Fred,’ he allegedly said. ‘We worked together for a while and then we didn’t and then I was a huge a**hole. A huge a**hole.
‘And I’m really sorry. And I’ve kind of owed you an apology for a minute here and so, uh, the truth is I really like you and I really want to be friends and I’m so sorry that I f***ed that up.’
This is not the first time that Savage has found himself embroiled in controversy. In 2018, he was sued by costumer Youngjoo Hwang, who claimed that he had assaulted and harassed her on the set of TV show The Grinder.
Hwang (seen with her attorney in 2018) also said that ‘Savage was known to intimidate, bully and torment female crew members.’ Hwang said that he had a ‘volatile and aggressive temper as it related to the female crew’ and had ‘violently struck’ her on three occasions
The incidents allegedly occurred while on the set of the TV show The Grinder (above). Savage, who subsequently settled the suit, had called the accusations ‘completely without merit and absolutely untrue’
Hwang said in legal documents that Savage had a ‘volatile and aggressive temper as it related to the female crew’ and had ‘violently struck’ her on three occasions.
According to Page Six, Hwang said that ‘Savage 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*** away from me.”‘
Savage, who subsequently settled the suit, had called the accusations ‘completely without merit and absolutely untrue,’ and was cleared by a probe at the time by 20th Century Television.
Four years ago, his former on-screen mother Alley Mills claimed the original Wonder Years’ cancellation followed a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Savage and Jason Hervey, which she said was settled out of court.
Monique Long, the woman who accused the then-16-year-old of sexual harassment, worked as a costumer on the set.
She accused both Savage and Hervey of ‘verbally and physically harassing her,’ according to Deadline.
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