Former “Wonder Years” star Fred Savage is facing claims he struck a female costumer during a profanity-laced meltdown on the Fox comedy “The Grinder” — allegations he denies.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, wardrobe staffer Youngjoo Hwang alleges Savage, 41, hit her repeatedly with an open hand when she tried to dust off his clothing during a shoot in either 2015 or early 2016.
“She went over to him to brush dandruff off his jacket, and he immediately yelled at her, ‘Get the f–k away from me,’ and ‘Don’t f—ing touch me,’ something to that effect, and then violently struck her arm three times,” lawyer Anahita Sedaghatfar told the Daily News.
“Mr. Savage snapped,” Hwang said as she appeared at a press conference Wednesday and described the alleged assault. “I could not stop crying. I was in pain. I was humiliated, and I was scared.”
She described the episode as “the last straw,” the culmination of prior on-set abuse that seemed to be getting worse over time.
“From the outset of the show, Mr. Savage was aggressive towards me. He would routinely curse at me, yell at me, demean me, when all I was trying to do was my job,” she said. “It became more and more stressful for me to go to work because I was scared of the abuse.”
She claimed other women involved with the show were targeted too.
There were others, and this was well-known on set,” she said.
Hwang, 29, said she reported the alleged striking incident to her superiors and was urged to keep quiet.
“My complaints were ignored and I was made to feel as if I had done something wrong, that I was to blame,” she said. “I asked to be moved to another show for my own safety, and Mr. Savage continued to be on the show with no reprimand.”
Savage vehemently denied the allegations in a lengthy statement released Wednesday.
“I have witnessed tremendous courage over these past few months, watching brave women who have come forward publicly fighting through the shame and stigma of harassment. I’ve seen first-hand the growing support in this movement that has always felt so lacking. As someone who has always tried to live honorably and with integrity, it never dawned on me that my name could be on the other side,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read More in: NY Daily News