CBS is dropping Jeremy Piven’s show amid sexual misconduct allegations against actor
CBS IS reportedly ending its drama “Wisdom of the Crowd” amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations against lead actor Jeremy Piven, according to TVLine and several entertainment news outlets.
The network will air the remainder of its original 13episode order, but it will not produce any new episodes, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Piven, who is facing sexual misconduct allegations from at least three women, appeared to confi rm the show’s end in a tweet.
“... sorry we don’t get to continue with this great family we have created,” he said in a Twitter post on Monday. “Proud of the work we did,” he said, adding that the episodes will be fi nished “with full hearts.”
The network did not give a reason for the move, but the news comes just weeks after CBS told Deadline it was “looking into” sexual misconduct allegations against Piven. When the allegations fi rst surfaced, CBS declined to broadcast an interview of Piven on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which was scheduled to air Nov 3.
Last week, CBS fi red broadcaster Charlie Rose for “extremely disturbing and intolerable behaviour” following a Washington Post report about his alleged unwanted sexual advances toward women.
In “Wisdom of the Crowd,” Piven plays an app developer in San Francisco who uses technology to solve his daughter’s murder. The show fi rst aired in October.
The show earned mediocre but not poor, ratings — raking in 8.9 million viewers, nearly the same amount the network’s critically acclaimed “Madam Secretary” receives, according to Variety.
Piven is best known for his role as the threatening talent agent Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage” and the womanising retail tycoon Harry Selfridge on ITV’s “Mr. Selfridge.”
Last month, actress Ariane Bellamar accused Piven of groping her while they were on “Entourage.”
“Jeremy Piven, on two occasions, cornered me & forcefully fondled my breasts & bum,” Bellamar posted on Twitter.
In response, Piven said in a statement to Deadline, “I unequivocally deny the appalling allegations being peddled about me. It did not happen. It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward with their histories, and my hope is that the allegations about me that didn’t happen, do not detract from stories that should be heard.”
Days later, advertising executive Tiffany Bacon Scourby told People that Piven sexually assaulted her while the two were awaiting a publicist in his hotel room in New York in 2003, according to the Nov 9 report.
On the same day, Piven posted a long statement on Twitter that said “the accusations against me are absolutely false and completely fabricated.”
Last week, actress Anastasia Taneie, told BuzzFeed that Piven forcibly pushed her up against a wall and groped her when she was a 23-year- old extra on “Entourage” in 2009.
“I would never force myself on a woman,” Piven wrote in an earlier tweet. “Period.”