‘Bull’ Season 4: Steven Spielberg Quits as EP After Michael Weatherly Scandal
UPDATE (5/9/2019):
CBS has officially renewed Bull for a Season 4, but the fallout over Michael Weatherly‘s scandal continues.
Soon after the announcement, Deadline revealed that Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television has dropped out of producing the hit legal drama. A spokesperson for the company confirmed they will no longer be attached to the show, but wouldn’t provide a reason. Spielberg and Amblin TV co-heads Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey all served as executive producers on Bull‘s first three seasons.
Glenn Gordon Caron, who served as showrunner for Season 3, is said to be in talks to return for a fourth season.
Original Story (4/30/2019):
In December, news broke that CBS paid former Bull actress Eliza Dushku $9.5 million in a settlement agreement after she made sexual harassment complaints against her costar and the show’s lead, Michael Weatherly.
Dushku claimed Weatherly made demeaning comments about her appearance on set and joked about having a threesome with her. According to an internal CBS investigation, Dushku felt “disgusted and violated.”
After she spoke up, Dushku alleges she was written off the CBS legal drama in what she believed to be a retaliation effort.
Weatherly issued an apology to The New York Times when the network’s actions were exposed. “During the course of taping our show, I made some jokes mocking some lines in the script,” he wrote. “When Eliza told me that she wasn’t comfortable with my language and attempt at humor, I was mortified to have offended her and immediately apologized. After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate and I am sorry and regret the pain this caused Eliza.”
As did CBS: “The allegations in Ms. Dushku’s claims are an example that, while we remain committed to a culture defined by a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace, our work is far from done.”
Eliza Dushku as J.P. Nunnelly and Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull
Then, Dushku slammed Weatherly and Bull showrunner Glenn Gordon Caron, who also reportedly was involved in writing her off the show. “The narrative propagated by CBS, actor Michael Weatherly and writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron is deceptive and in no way fits with how they treated me on the set of the television show Bull and retaliated against me for simply asking to do my job without relentless sexual harassment,” she wrote. “This is not a ‘he-said/she-said’ case. Weatherly’s behavior was captured on CBS’s own videotape recordings.”
“I took a job and, because I did not want to be harassed, I was fired,” she concluded.
After Dushku spoke out, neither the actor nor showrunner nor network responded again or released any new information. So, the question remains: Will Weatherly keep his lucrative lead actor job on Bull after this scandal?
The women’s activist group, Ultraviolet, called for his firing at the time. “CBS must immediately move to fire Michael Weatherly and send a clear example that sexual harassment and abuse will not be tolerated by anyone at the network – including both CEO’s and star actors’ alike,” said Shaunna Thomas, the co-founder and executive director of Ultraviolet.
There are currently only two episodes left of Bull Season 3, and CBS has yet to renew the series. While it drew in 7.3 million total viewers for its fall finale in December, that number has been slipping, with 6.42 million tuning in for the April 29 episode.
While that may be cause to wonder about the series’ future, keep in mind that Bull isn’t the only CBS drama that hasn’t been renewed yet. The network has yet to announce if Madam Secretary, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0, SEAL Team, and S.W.A.T. will be back for the 2019-2020 season.
For what it’s worth, Weatherly’s NCIS former co-stars Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander took to social media to defend their friend.
“This man … I love, respect, trust, and I KNOW. TWO decades of friendship and respect,” Perrette tweeted. “The best. I love you @M_Weatherly Always and forever.”
Alexander tweeted, “I have been in trenches w/ my friend ?@M_Weatherly?. Always laughs, true friend & as big as they come.”
We’ll see what the future has in store for Weatherly’s career, and specifically for his involvement on Bull.
Bull, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS
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