SMILF Creator Frankie Shaw Is Under Scrutiny for On-Set Behavior

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Magazine

December 18, 2018

By Spencer Buell

She’s accused of inappropriate conduct behind the scenes of her Boston-set TV show.

Frankie Shaw, creator and star of the Boston-set Showtime drama SMILF, is under the microscope this week after reports of alleged inappropriate behavior on set.

Shaw’s conduct, according to the Hollywood Reporter, was the subject of an investigation by Disney’s ABC Signature Studios and a star has quit, citing a breach of contract over sex scenes. Sources told the Reporter that actress Samara Weaving will not return to the show, and described her distress at being pressured by Shaw to film scenes in the nude despite a no-nudity clause in her contract. It also detailed apparent violations of what is known in the industry as a “closed set”—in which actors’ exposure to other crew members is limited—while sex scenes were shot. Employees on set have also complained about a hostile environment, and that “writers of color were put in different rooms from Caucasian writers and felt that their ideas were exploited without pay or credit.”

Variety reports that the investigation is over, and that ABC Studios has “concluded that there had been no wrongdoing on Shaw’s part.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.