A source close to the situation claims that ABC fired actor/director Fred Savage because of his inappropriate conduct on the set of The Wonder Years. Before his abrupt firing, Savage served as an executive producer and director of the revival program. However, “three distinct allegations” were made against him, so these claims were “investigated” and resulted in his termination.
“Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,” the producer of Wonder Years 20th Television stated. “Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.”
Despite his on-air conduct, Savage is a married man. He is married to commercial real estate agent Jennifer Lynn Stone and the couple has three children.
He’s been active as a director for the last several decades – although he’s appeared in various projects, including Fox’s The Grinder and Netflix’s Friends From College.
While he worked on The Grinder, allegations of creating a hostile work environment for women were made against him. Youngjoo Hwang, a dresser on The Grinder, sued Savage and Fox in March 2018 for allegedly striking her arm when she was attempting to dust his costume. However, Fox denied the allegations and stated that they had conducted an investigation and found no evidence of misconduct.
Savage was brought on as an executive producer of the remake in 2021, when he became a star because of The Wonder Years, which premiered in 1988. He has been involved with the remade program since and has played an important part in its growth.
However, according to an interview he gave to THR earlier this year, Savage was not convinced by the remake and had to be persuaded to participate.
“I had to kind of get over myself a bit and realized that we were telling a new story,” he said then. “Eventually, we moved forward with [Patterson] being the narrative-driving force and me being the connection to the past, keeping the tone and the shape of it consistent with the original. That’s how it started, and we went out and pitched it together, and it’s been an incredible partnership.”
Now, it appears that the collaboration has come to a screeching halt.
This is a developing story, and more information will be supplied as it becomes available. Keep an eye on developments. Savage has yet to comment on his termination from The Wonder Years revival. ABC had no remarks regarding the matter.