The sixth season of the WB series showed a youthful version of the superhero posse that included star Tom Welling along with future 'This Is Us' actor Justin Hartley.
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Closing her final show before Thanksgiving, the 'Full Frontal' host urged women in comedy to ignore the naysayers: "The future of comedy is yours."
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"Here’s the thing, the movie is truth. The thing that resonated with people was truth."
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'Chicago P.D.': Jesse Lee Soffer on Halstead's "Bad Choices" and Sophia Bush's Exit
"I think we needed to see the character grow past Lindsay's character leaving," the actor tells THR about Jay's new love interest on the cop drama.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Wednesday's episode of Chicago P.D., "Care Under Fire."]
Chicago P.D.'s Det. Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) is having a rough go of it to say the least.
After losing his longtime girlfriend and partner, Det. Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush), at the beginning of season five, the cop and army veteran saw his PTSD come back in Wednesday's episode just as he went undercover to get close to a fellow former Army ranger who served at the same time as him. The man was brutally killed in front of Jay, only to further bring up his past demons from battle, and he also fell for the man's sister, Camila (Quantico's Anabelle Acosta). The episode ended with Jay consoling Camila as he lied to her face, both about his identity and about being there when her brother was killed.
"[He's] making some bad choices," Soffer tells THR about Wednesday's turn of events.
In the light of the revelations about Jay's demons and that unexpected ending, THR jumped on the phone with Soffer to discuss all that plus his research for Wednesday's episode, the "shift" in season five under new showrunner Rick Eid and Bush's exit.
We've known about Halstead's military background since the start of the show but why was now the right time to explore it to this extent? Why is his PTSD such a factor now?
Well, we never had fully explored it and I think this season, Rick and [executive producer/director] Eriq [La Salle] and our producers, they've created some new storylines and they're kind of doing these mini-movie episodes with characters every week where someone gets to really be highlighted and show where this person's at in their life, where they came from, stuff like that and it's been really fun.
Given you've been playing the character for five seasons now, did you get to give any input when it came to this big Halstead episode?
I actually don't get to have input about that stuff. (Laughs.) I give all the credit for this storyline to Rick and Eriq and everybody. I think probably they wanted to see Jay a little broken because his life's gone through shit. His partner's gone who was also his girlfriend for so many years and I think that they wanted to see him struggle. We've seen Jay struggle in situations but we've never seen him struggle internally and that was a new thing. They said, "Why not? Why not open him up to that now?" The first episode of the season where the little girl gets killed, he's found innocent of wrongdoing, however the emotional reality of what happened stays with him. That, along with not having anyone to rely on, it opens up this kind of Pandora's box into his past and things that he's had buried that he hasn't deal with. It's been a whole new character to play, really.
How did it make the character new for you? How did that inform you as an actor to see this other side of Jay?
It's kind of like you have this like laundry list of traits and characteristics and you know how you're going to react in certain situations. You understand the different dynamics you have with the other characters and the relationships, and then you just introduce one new idea and it changes each of those things on that laundry list a little bit. It gives it just a subtle shift that kind of takes over. It's been a really interesting experience to know a character so well and to have played him for so many years and then to get to change some things.
What kind of research did you do, particularly for those heavier scenes involving his PTSD?
I talked to a couple of people who have served and dealt with stuff like this before, and then you kind of put your own interpretation on things.
Did you feel extra pressure to act out those scenes after having talked to veterans?
Not pressure, but I would say a strong hope that you represent it accurately and bring some truth and honesty to it so that people feel well-represented. Really, the whole point is to connect. If viewers are watching and know someone who has dealt with or have dealt with it themselves and they can connect and see a character go through something and come out the other side. Or if they can connect and have a deeper understanding of something or of someone in their life, that's the goal I think for all of the entertainment business. I felt pressure to do that, I would say.
It seems clear at the end of the episode that Halstead is still dealing with PTSD and some other issues so how will that be reflected in future episodes?
I don't know how much more we're going to touch on the PTSD. There's also other characters to service and write for, so that might come back around, but what we do see is Jay lost. He's making decisions and making choices in his life that he would not have made previous to these experiences, and because of that, we see him really messing up and making some bad choices.
What can you say about his connection with Camila? What attracts him to her?
He's finding someone to connect with but it may be in the wrong place. And he's kind of going, 'Screw it, who cares what people think? Who cares what the right thing to do is or the wrong thing to do is? I'm just going to do what I want to do,' and that's not like him so that will be interesting.
This is his first love interest since Lindsay left so how will this relationship differ from that relationship?
Well, this relationship is a lie. She doesn't know who he really is, and he keeps up with the ruse of he's this guy [Ryan], who's really just a character he was playing when he was undercover. But I think he does care about this person and cares about her loss. And maybe he feels a little alive and not so alone again. He just goes, 'Screw it,' and we'll see where the chips fall.
There had been a lot of speculation about who Halstead's first post-Lindsay love interest would be and when that would happen. Why was now the right time?
I don’t know if it is the right time, I guess the fans will have to respond to that. They might think it’s the wrong time entirely. But I think we needed to see the character grow past Lindsay's character leaving. So much of who he was on the show was tied into her character and he needed a new coming-of-age story this season for sure to get past all of that. Really, this season is a series of trials and tribulations to see how he comes out the other side.
Given what you said about the Halstead and Lindsay characters, how did you feel coming in for season five knowing you wouldn’t be acting opposite Sophia anymore?
It was sad. It's hard. When someone leaves a show that was there from the beginning and we were a big family. It's kind of like doing a new show a little bit. It's like, what is it going to feel like now? What is the scene going to play like? What's my character going to be doing? … It's definitely been difficult but the show must go on.
The show also faced changes behind the scenes with Rick Eid replacing Matt Olmstead as showrunner. Was there a script or a scene or a conversation you had with Rick that really gave you confidence going into season five?
It was after getting that first script and going, "Whoa, we're really dealing with Halstead having killed a little girl. Yes, he was found to be doing it justly, he was vindicated, but it's a major heartbreaking story." It was like, "Whoa, OK, we're really going to deal with some stuff here."
And then there was another episode where Ruzek and Atwater have this great scene where Ruzek is trying to tell a guy to get on the ground and he's got a kid with him and he's black, and they're in a bad neighborhood and the guy doesn't want to do it. Ruzek says, "I'm going to shoot you." Atwater is trying to de-escalate the situation and says, ["It's not easy for a black man to get on his knees for a white cop."] It was like, whoa, we're actually dealing with some current events and current tensions and I think we're doing something that's important. When I read that, I thought, 'We've got our finger on the pulse. This is going to be good.'
Why do you think it was important to lean into those current events and current tensions?
That's what television should be. A show like ours, if you're trying to tell real-life cop stories, then let's tell real-life cop stories. What are the stories you see in the news? What are those stories people can connect with? If you're not doing that, it's just crime of the week or bad guy a. and bad guy b. What's really important about that? Let's have a discussion.
With Sophia's absence, you've also had to establish a new onscreen partnership with Tracy Spiridakos' character Upton. How has it been finding that rhythm?
It's been fun. She's great and she's a really good actor and she's awesome to have on set. She fit in right away. It's kind of self-explanatory, it's like, here's Jay, he's kind of alone and feeling a little broken in the world and they're kind of thrown together. She seems to be doing well, and he's really not doing well and he should be relying on her but he's not quick to trust and not quick to let her in. The results, I think, have been pretty good. We've had some really good scenes.
Upton makes it clear in this episode that she knows Jay is going through a hard time. How does this episode and his issues test their partnership?
I think going forward, he's going to have to rely on her a little more and trust her and let her in a little more about the issues that he's dealing with. Otherwise, he's going to lose her as a partner or he's going to lose his job. He's got an advocate and a friend who wants to help him and try and take care of him a little and he's going to have to let somebody in.
Speaking of, what can you say about how his working relationship with Voight (Jason Beghe) has changed this season?
I think Voight really respects Jay and Jay's kind of moving up on Hank's good side. They always butt heads about how to do police work but neither ever doubted the others' convictions or doubted that the other was a good cop. They had their differences but they always respected each other. Now with what's going on in Jay's life and the choices that he's making, he's got a really steep hill to climb with Voight on his way back from all this stuff because you can’t keep anything from Voight, you can't hide things form Voight. How that relationships looks in another month remains to be seen.
Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
Chicago P.D.Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
Everybody Is 'Playing with the Devil' on 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers'
A family-style reward feast leads to a sandy kerfuffle over yet another hidden idol on 'Survivor.'
[This recap contains spoilers for the Wednesday, November 15 episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.]
Since I'm still angry about last week's absence of blooming' onion at the Outback Steakhouse reward, allow me to begin my thoughts about Wednesday's Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers by wondering how aggressively Survivor went after Olive Garden to sponsor tonight's Italian reward feast.
I can just imagine Jeff Probst announcing, "At Olive Garden, when you're there you're family, so today's reward will be family-style."
Instead, the reward was just limp-looking generic spaghetti and red sauce, a bottle of unmarked wine, a small baguette and salad that looked good, but you know was unnervingly warm by that point. So… totally Olive Garden.
I kid! I kid! Everybody loves unlimited breadsticks.
The family-style reward was one of Wednesday's two deviations from the Survivor norm, tiny twists that helped boost an episode that, like so many this season, led up to a Tribal Council where the dominant viewer response was likely, "But why?"
Why, once you've successfully split votes and secured a tie between Desi and Joe, would you vote Desi out instead of eliminating the idol-finding machine who rubs everybody the wrong way? Yes, Desi won one immunity and performed reasonably well in a second, but come on! Desi was not going to win this season of Survivor. Joe still could. Also, Joe is annoying. Desi is mostly just there. You could take Desi out at any time. Joe's gonna do something crazy at some point and just when you think you're about to take him out, he'll pull yet another idol or cause Ben to have a breakdown or who knows what. I mean, Joe told everybody they were playing with the Devil. Or he told us. It was the title of the episode!
Sure, a Healer had to go home. Everybody figures Doctor Mike is a floater. And Cole, who would have been going home otherwise, won individual immunity. So it was down to Joe and Desi and I guess Ben and Chrissy and Lauren and Ryan had a conversation and the consensus was to take Desi out in the event of a tie, but… Why?
Oh well. Bye, Desi. You were OK, but certainly not memorable.
So let's get back to the unique things.
The reward was truly a fun variation. The winning team got an Italian feast for six, but it was family style and it had to be eaten one person at a time with no restrictions, so you could either apportion yourself an exact sixth of the subpar cuisine or you could stuff your face and let the people after you suffer. I liked that as a gimmick. I also liked that the clue to yet another immunity idol was written on the bottom of the serving plate. So that meant that Devon, who went first, didn't eat enough to notice the letters and wasn't alert enough to inspect. In the smallest surprise in Survivor history, Cole pigged out and noticed the words and got the clue and was at least smart enough to move the pasta onto a cloth to cover the plate, which didn't fool Chrissy, but Chrissy left the plate so that Ryan could find the clue and then, when Ryan found the clue, he hid the plate in the woods and just left the remaining pasta on the table. Why didn't Cole think to do that? Because Cole is Cole. And why didn't we, after all of that talk of people eating more than their share, get to see how much food was actually left for Joe? By the time Joe got to that feast, it was a couple strands of barely sauced pasta and some hot lettuce.
So… basically a lunch at Olive Garden.
Naw. I kid. We're family. Bring on next week's Panda Express Orange Chicken reward!
I enjoyed the concept of the reward twist and always encourage the producers to do whatever they can to incite new and different responses, but it's impossible not to think that this reward twist and each individual oddball advantage are things that the producers thought up long ago and are only unearthing now because they recognize and fear a season in desperate need of prodding along.
In this case, the clue at the bottom of the spaghetti dish led to a three-tiered pasta-noia with Cole knowing about the clue and suspecting that Ryan and Chrissy knew, but Ryan and Chrissy not knowing if Cole knew, but assuming that since Cole is dumb, he probably didn't know. So Cole went to pee and Ryan went to dig and Ryan found the idol and started to walk away, urging Chrissy to cover the hole, which Cole interpreted as digging for the idol and Cole dove at the Chrissy and Ben dove at Cole and Ryan stood on the outside malevolently tenting his fingers like the cobbler elf he is. And now everybody thinks Cole has the idol. Brilliant! Or, rather, brilliant except for how many darned idols are now out there. Ryan has one. Mike has one. And there's one still out there at camp to be found.
There's also Chrissy's bluffing fake idol and now Lauren has an advantage, because she found the parchment mixed in with the nails, instructing her that if she didn't vote at the next tribal, she'd have a bonus vote at a future tribal. Short-term, this made it hard for the Heroes/Hustlers to split their votes against Joe and Desi because Lauren didn't have a vote and yet nobody paused and was confused when only 10 votes were read during the initial vote. Somebody could have said, "Wait!" but nobody did.
So this was another engaging episode and the number of potential components to future craziness is high.
Some bottom lines from tonight's episode…
Bottom Line, I. Joe taunting Ben by claiming he'd made promises on the Marines was borderline diabolical and probably over-the-edge from Good Survivor into Bad Person. Joe correctly identified the button that gives Ben a shock when it's pushed and he kept pushing and pushing. I think he wanted to simultaneously make everybody realize that Ben is a strategic threat and also to make Ben look threatening or unstable? But seriously, don't taunt the veteran and maybe don't play headgames with the guy who flinches when wet kindling is thrown in the fire and pops?
Bottom Line, II. There has to be a way to approach individual immunity challenges so that the second half of the season isn't just Survivor: Balance Beam. So far we're 2-for-2 since the merge. This one was perhaps a tiny bit less balance-y, since it didn't eliminate all of the men immediately, just most of the men immediately. Cole ended up winning and saving himself. How did we get no reaction from Cole to Jessica's elimination? Where was his sorrow?
Bottom Line, III. Why was Jeff Probst so impressed with the Tribal Council conversation? He was just gushing all over the place about the roller coaster the castaways had taken him on and I missed anything deeply introspective or revelatory, though I would have pulled the episode title from Devon's observation, "I don't wanna be a zombie. I like being a bright and beautiful light."
Bottom Line, IV. The random team division in that reward challenge came out really wonky. No group should be able to get Cole, JP and Devon in a challenge that involves any strength at all. The strategy to get the weak people out of the way with the slingshot so that JP and Devon could dominate late was a good one. That also meant that three players with the highest necessary caloric intake were sharing the family style meal.
Bottom Line, V. When it comes to fracases like what broke out over the idol, or lack thereof, I always wonder where the line gets drawn, because it looked like things were physical, but not quite up to the level of assault, but when there's a physical disparity like exists between Chrissy and Cole, when does somebody step in? Does somebody step in?
Bottom Line, VI. I'm still confused by some of the votes at the Tribal, but the only thing I'm sure of is that this may be the dullest Survivor tie ever? Normal ties are such high drama, but the drama in this episode peaked in the fight over the idol that wasn't there.
Check out Josh Wigler's post-episode interviews and I'll see you back again next week!
‘The Voice’: Season 13 Has Its Top 12
Miley Cyrus had to cut her team in half on Wednesday night.
On the final night of NBC's The Voice season 13’s Playoffs, Miley Cyrus’ six remaining artists — including her comeback artist — performed for a chance to make it into the top 12.
Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine already selected their artists for the top 12 earlier this week, including Shi’ann Jones, Davon Fleming, Noah Mac, Keisha Renee, Red Marlow, Chloe Kohanski, Addison Agen, Jon Mero and Adam Cunningham. At the end of the night, Cyrus was faced with having to cut her team in half, too.
First up was Brooke Simpson singing “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World" by James Brown. Cyrus encouraged her to really start showing her personality, and Simpson delivered. It was a great song choice for her, showcasing her bold and gritty voice. Levine likened her to Hudson and former Voice coach Christina Aguilera.
Team Miley’s comeback artist Karli Webster was up next. She sang “Coat of Many Colors” by Cyrus’ godmother Dolly Parton. Webster tapped into her classic country sound and gave a charming performance. She sounded a lot like Parton herself. Cyrus praised her vintage sound.
Adam Pearce, the only male artist on Team Miley this season, followed with a performance of the classic “Love Hurts." Cyrus stole him from Team Adam, and Levine said he misses him. It was a solid performance, and the high notes were impressive.
Ashland Craft sang “When I Think About Cheatin’” by Gretchen Wilson, showcasing her pop-country potential. She put a good amount of grit behind her vocal, delivering an emotional and captivating performance. Cyrus coached Craft well, boosting her confidence about the higher parts and giving her a great song to sing. Shelton lamented that Craft isn’t on his team.
Team Miley’s young rocker Moriah Formica followed, singing “World Without You” by Beth Hart. She made the song her own and gave a well-rounded, confident performance. It was one of the most impressive of the night, but Cyrus said she still wanted more toughness from her.
The last artist of the night was Janice Freeman. She sang “Fall for You” by Leela James, and it was another great song choice. Freeman is an experienced and intuitive singer who has a strong sense of who she wants to be as an artist, and all of those strengths were on display in her emotional and vocally impressive performance.
Cyrus then had to make a tough decision, choosing three artists to advance to the top 12 and three to eliminate. She advanced Freeman, Simpson and Craft, who will be joining the other nine artists from Team Blake, Team Jennifer and Team Adam in the Lives next week.
'The Blacklist' Parts Ways With an Original Series Star
Spoiler alert!
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the midseason finale of NBC's The Blacklist.]
The Blacklist has parted ways with one of its original stars.
During Wednesday's midseason finale, star Ryan Eggold's Tom Keen was shockingly killed off the NBC procedural. And unlike other "deaths" during the drama from creator/showrunner Jon Bokenkamp and executive producer John Eisendrath, this one will stick.
"Of all the words I've written on the show, two of the hardest were when Red [James Spader] told Liz [Megan Boone]: 'Tom’s dead.' Nooooo! We’ll miss the intensity, range and just plain bad ass-ness Ryan brought to the part. Won’t come as any surprise — but he went down swinging!" Eisendrath, who wrote Wednesday's episode with Bokenkamp, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
Eggold's Tom Keen was the husband of Boone's Elizabeth Keen. The character, later revealed to be a covert operative, was spun off last season to topline The Blacklist: Redemption. The Sony Pictures Television Studios-produced spinoff was canceled after one low-rated season, with Eggold returning to the flagship as a series regular in its current fifth season.
"I feel incredibly lucky to have played a role with such a uniquely dynamic evolution," Eggold said in a statement to THR. "I'm grateful for the time spent working with Megan, James and the entire cast. I'm thankful to the incredibly hard-working crew for consistently making the show better. Sony and NBC have both been deeply supportive, conscientious and adept in managing the show. Mostly I'm indebted to Jon Bokenkamp, John Eisendrath and the writers for continuing to elevate the show creatively and always impassioning me to further explore the true nature of this character. I will miss this TV family immensely and diligently look forward to the opportunity to embody new characters and tell new stories."
Wednesday's midseason finale picked up with Tom being held captive by a blacklister. After escaping, Tom was briefly reunited with Liz at their apartment — only she arrived to discover him tied up and held hostage. The episode then picked up with the flash-forward featured in the season five premiere as Liz and Tom put up a valiant effort during a violent struggle but are both outnumbered. Red puts the badly injured Liz and Tom in a car to the hospital for treatment. As medical professionals work on Liz and Tom, The Blacklist cuts to black, with Liz later waking up — after being in a coma for 10 months — to find Red by her side. Red then is tasked with telling Liz that Tom has died. The episode ends with Cooper (Harry Lennix) standing over Tom's dead body in the morgue, closing the book on Eggold's character.
"I have such tremendous respect for Ryan and everything he brought to The Blacklist. The character of Tom Keen was a blast to write, and that’s only because we knew Ryan could pull off whatever we threw at him," said Bokenkamp. "That said, we always knew Tom’s exploits would one day get him killed — The Blacklist won’t be the same without him. Looking ahead, Tom’s death upends the show in a way we’re very excited about, and our next episode is unlike anything we’ve done before. But it won't be the same around here without Mr. Keen. As for Mr. Eggold, I think he’s gonna be just fine — he’s gonna have a long and rewarding career."
The Blacklist returns Jan. 3 on NBC. The series will also celebrate its landmark 100th episode in January.
The BlacklistRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
The eight-episode project is based on a real-life scandal that took place in an upscale Roman neighborhood in 2013.
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Nickelodeon Cancels 'School of Rock' and 'Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn'
Both series will wrap in 2018.
Two of Nickelodeon's scripted series are coming to an end.
School of Rock and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn have been canceled at the Viacom-owned cable network, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
"Nickelodeon is not moving forward with production on Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn and School of Rock," the network said Wednesday in a statement. "We are extremely proud of each series, and thankful to the casts and crews for their work. The remaining episodes for both shows will continue to air on Nickelodeon through 2018.”
The news comes after the third season of Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn and the fourth season of School of Rock. The fourth season of Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn is set to premiere next year, while School of Rock is midway through its current season and has 13 episodes left to air, including an hourlong finale. The remaining episodes will air in 2018.
School of Rock, from Paramount TV, is based on the 2003 Jack Black movie of the same name. Meanwhile Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn hailed from network veteran Matt Fleckenstein, who previously worked on several of Nick's live-action scripted originals including Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly and Victorious.
The cancelations came hours after Nickelodeon renewed live-action freshman series I Am Frankie for season two and greenlighted a 20-episode order for new buddy comedy Star Falls.
Nickelodeon is the latest Viacom-owned cable network to see changes in its programming. VH1 has shifted out of scripted programing altogether, canceling the Vanessa Williams series Daytime Divas and moving its remaining scripted series to BET, and several of TV Land's originals (American Woman, the Heathers anthology and Melissa McCarthy's Nobodies) are all moving to Paramount Network when it launches in 2018, replacing Spike TV.
Viacom has been moving to focus on six core brands in its extensive cable portfolio. Those brands include Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, BET, Comedy Central and Paramount Network.
Mark Schwahn Suspended From E!'s 'The Royals' in Wake of Sexual Harassment Allegations
The allegations stem from his time on The CW's 'One Tree Hill.'
E! and producers Lionsgate Television have suspended showrunner Mark Schwahn from his scripted drama The Royals following allegations about sexual harassment during his time on The CW's One Tree Hill.
“E!, Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television take sexual harassment allegations very seriously, investigate them thoroughly and independently, and take appropriate action. Lionsgate has suspended Mark Schwahn from The Royals as we continue our investigation,” the companies said Wednesday in a statement.
Season four on The Royals will not be impacted as production on the drama wrapped in September. Season four will air as planned next year.
Schwahn was accused this week of sexual harassment by the cast and crew of his former show, One Tree Hill.
Without publicly naming Schwahn, former One Tree Hill writer Audrey Wauchope tweeted Saturday that she and her writing partner were sexually harassed during their time working on the teen soap, including inappropriate touching and comments, and accused the showrunner of showing naked photos of an actress he was in a relationship with to crewmembers.
"Female writers would try to get the spot where the showrunner wouldn't sit as to not be touched. Often men would help out by sitting next to him, thus protecting the women," Wauchope wrote. "Sometimes we wouldn't luck out and he'd just squeeze his disgusting body in between us and put his arms around us, grinning. He pet hair. He massaged shoulders. I know he did more but not to me so they're not my stories to share."
In a joint statement, signed by series stars including Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, the female castmembers of One Tree Hill offered their support of Wauchope's claims and alleged Schwahn manipulated many of them "psychologically and emotionally."
"More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress," the actresses said. "Many of us were put in uncomfortable positions and had to swiftly learn to fight back, sometimes physically, because it was made clear to us that the supervisors in the room were not the protectors they were supposed to be."
Actress Alexandra Park, who plays Princess Eleanor on The Royals, tweeted Wednesday that she has also witnessed the showrunner's "reprehensible behavior" and added her support for those who came forward. "I have a responsibility as someone who was working under Mark Schwahn on The Royals to acknowledge these claims," she said in her post. "I am devastated to admit to myself, to my colleagues and to this industry that I too, have been exposed to this reprehensible behavior."
Hours before E!'s announcement of Schwahn's suspension, Bush took to Twitter to accuse the network of being "awfully silent" in its coverage of Schwahn's accusers: "Interesting that you publish all of these SA accounts, but not one corroborated by 18 women, 8 men, & counting, about a showrunner you currently employ? The first all-cast statement ever. Awfully silent, E."
Other castmembers have since shown their support, including male stars James Lafferty and Chad Michael Murray.
Schwahn becomes the latest industry figure to be accused of sexual harassment. The Flash and Supergirl showrunner Andrew Kreisberg was suspended Friday after 19 people — men and women — came forward to accuse the writer and executive producer of creating a toxic work environment, including sexual and other forms of harassment.
The Royals, a contemporary royal drama, stars Elizabeth Hurley and stands as E!'s first original scripted drama.
