'The Royals' female crew members accuse Schwahn of sexual harassment

The female cast and crew of "The Royals" have added to the mounting sexual harassment charges against showrunner Mark Schwahn.

In a statement released on Thursday and signed by 25 female cast and crew members from the drama series, the women who worked on the show engaged in "repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew", reports variety.com.

It read: "This statement is a collection of voices from those women involved in 'The Royals' who would like to finally respond to the behaviour of our showrunner. Who felt the inclination to abuse his power and influence in an environment where he had it over women who felt they did not.

 

"This manifested itself in the repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew."

On Wednesday, Schwahn was suspended from his role as showrunner on "The Royals" two days after 18 cast and crew members of his previous series "One Tree Hill" issued a letter accusing him of sexual harassment.

The same day, "The Royals" series star Alexandra Park also issued a statement about Schwahn, saying: "I am devastated to admit to myself, to my colleagues, and to this industry that I too, have been exposed to this reprehensible behaviour."

Actress Elizabeth Hurley on Thursday tweeted saying that she was not aware of Schwahn's alleged harassment on the set of "The Royals", reports variety.com.

"(I) feel like I have let down a younger cast member. I could have helped her. I would have helped her. But I didn't know."

"I have never personally felt scared, intimidated, psychologically manipulated or been the recipient of inappropriate behaviour in 30 years of making movies and television. This includes my years working closely with Mark Schwahn," wrote Hurley.

--IANS

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