Fred Savage was fired from Wonder Years reboot after six women complained about misconduct

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. 

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. 

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.’ 

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 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.