Actresses and female crew of The Royals on E! Entertainment slam suspended showrunner Mark Schwahn over ongoing sexual harassment on set.

Actresses and female crew members of the drama series The Royals on E! Entertainment are now speaking out to - detailing the ongoing and shocking sexual harassment from the series creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn who has been suspended this week.

Mark Schwahn was suspended after a barrage of sexual harassment allegations against him, made by the female cast and crew of his previous and longrunning series One Tree Hill.

In a joint statement on Thursday, signed by 25 actresses - including The Royals regular Merritt Patterson as well as several guest-starring and recurring actresses and crew members - they slam Mark Schwahn over the "repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew".

On Wednesday The Royals star, Alexandra Park, in a statement said that "I too, have been exposed to this reprehensible behaviour".

In a statement Elizabeth Hurley says "I feel sick to hear now that people were unhappy at that time and didn't dare speak up".

"It's totally unacceptable for anyone to work in a place where they feel unsafe. Measures must be put in place in every industry so that anyone who is experiencing intimidation can seek help."

Filming on the 4th season of The Royals, produced by Lionsgate Television and Universal Cable productions, ended in September. It's not yet known if the show has been renewed for a 5th season.

Here is the statement of The Royals actresses and female crew:


Upon reading a statement from the ladies of One Tree Hill, a statement from their Royal sisters could not possibly go unwritten.

Despite hearing rumours about his behaviour on One Tree Hill, those of us involved from the early stages went into the filming of the pilot hoping they were just that – rumours.

By the time we wrapped, this had irrevocably proven not to be the case. It became all too apparent reading their statement earlier this week that the betrayal and anger so many of us had experienced during our time on The Royals is not exclusively ours.

And we were angry then, and we are angry now.

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.

Where we should have been excited to meet new female cast and crew members, we felt nauseating concern in case they too should have him track down their mobile number.

Where we should have offered our friends who auditioned for The Royals scene help and advice, we offered warnings about the man they would meet in the room.

More than all of this, where we should all collectively have felt pride over jobs hard won and roles much loved, we felt undermined as artists and creatives. And in many cases, no more than a sum of body attributes.

Whilst voraciously condemning the actions of one man, we would like to make note of our gratitude to others. Thank you to so many of The Royals men who ensured we were never alone in social situations with him and took two steps towards us for his every one.

Thank you to the friends, loved ones and partners who supported us at the time and ever more so now in coming forward.

But thank you most of all to the women of One Tree Hill, whose solid gold backbones have moved us enormously. To you we doff our crowns.

Kind regards
The Ladies of The Royals.
Hatty Preston, Sophie Colquhoun, Alex Watherson, Lydia Rose Bewley, April Church, Annalise Beusnel, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Florence Chow, Charlie Jones, Isabella Artitzone, Jade Armstrong, Rachel Walsh, Tania Vernava, Bonnie Vannucci, Merritt Patterson, Kate Benton, Jerry-Jane Pears, Jodie Simone, Kate Royds, Leonie Hartard, Lisa Mitton, Marie Deehan, Alice Woodward, Rachel Lennon, Kimberly Macbeth.

Cast of One Tree Hill accuses One Tree Hill and The Royals showrunner, Mark Schwahn of sexual harassment.

The cast of the teen show One Tree Hill is coming forward and has accused the long running show's showrunner Mark Schwahn who now produces E! Entertainment's The Royals of sexual harassment.

The statement from stars Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz comes after writer Audrey Wauchope on Saturday tweeted that she and her writing partner were sexually harassed during the run of the series.

"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," Audrey 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 from Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, the female cast members of One Tree Hill supported Audrey Wauchope and said "More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress".

"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."

Here is their statement:

"To Whom It May Concern,
All of the female cast members of One Tree Hill have chosen this forum to stand together in support of Audrey Wauchope and one another.

To use terminology that has become familiar as the systemic reality of sexual harassment and assault has come more and more to light, Mark Schwahn's behavior over the duration of the filming of One Tree Hill was something of an "open secret".

Many of us were, to varying degrees, manipulated psychologically and emotionally. More than one of us is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress.

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.

Many of us were spoken to in ways that ran the spectrum from deeply upsetting, to traumatizing, to downright illegal. And a few of us were put in positions where we felt physically unsafe. More than one woman on our show had her career trajectory threatened.

The through line in all of this was, and still is, our unwavering support of and faith in one another. We confided in each other. We set up safe spaces to talk about his behavior and how to handle it. To warn new women who joined our ranks.

We understood that a lot of it was orchestrated in ways that kept it out of sight for the studio back home. We also understood that no one was fully unaware. The lack of action that has been routine, the turning of the other cheek, is intolerable.

We collectively want to echo the calls of women everywhere that vehemently demand change, in all industries.

Many of us were told, during filming, that coming forward to talk about this culture would result in our show being canceled and hundreds of lovely, qualified, hard-working, and talented people losing their jobs.

This is not an appropriate amount of pressure to put on young girls. Many of us since have stayed silent publicly but had very open channels of communication in our friend group and in our industry, because we want Tree Hill to remain the place "where everything's better and everything's safe" for our fans; some of whom have said that the show quite literally saved their lives.

But the reality is, no space is safe when it has an underlying and infectious cancer. We have worked at taking our power back, making the conventions our own, and relishing in the good memories. But there is more work to be done.

We are all deeply grateful for Audrey’s courage. For one another. And for every male cast mate and crew member who has reached out to our group of women to offer their support these last few days. They echo the greater rallying cry that must lead us to change: Believe Women. We are all in this together.

With Love and Courage,
The Cast, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, Bethany Joy Lenz, Danneel Harris, Michaela McManus, Kate Voegele, Daphne Zuniga, India de Beaufort, Bevin Prince, Jana Kramer, Shantel Van Santen, and Allison Munn

And Brave Crew,
Audrey Wauchope, Rachel Specter, Jane Beck, Tarin Squillante, Cristy Koebley, JoJo Stephens
And All the rest of the Women We Worked With Who Are Finding Their Voices as We Speak"

E! where Mark Schwahn is now the showrunner on The Royals says E! is "monitoring the information carefully. E!, Universal Cable Productions and Lionsgate Television are committed to providing a safe working environment in which everyone is treated respectfully and professionally".