After Netflix fired Full House creator Jeff Franklin from his position as showrunner on the Fuller House revival series last fall, Franklin filed a lawsuit alleging that his replacement was largely to blame. Filed in April, Franklin’s lawsuit accuses Bryan Behar of taking advantage of the #MeToo movement and formulating “a plan to compile unflattering and distasteful information about Franklin that was either fabricated or twisted versions of events,” which was shared with the media and parent company Warner Bros. But according to a sworn declaration given by Warner Bros. vice president of public relations Silisha Platon in Los Angeles Superior Court, the issues with Franklin pre-date the #MeToo movement—which effectively kicked off with a wave of allegations against Harvey Weinstein in late 2017.
THR obtained a copy of the sworn declaration, intended to support Behar’s attempt to have Franklin’s lawsuit thrown out. It reveals that Warner Bros. first received a complaint about the Full House creator back in 2016, well before the allegations against Weinstein were made public. The studio launched an investigation into “Franklin’s handling of pregnancy-related requests for time off for doctor appointments as well as concerns about equal treatment for male and female writers for the show.” Though Franklin received counseling, WB received another complaint in 2017, alleging that the Fuller House showrunner had created a “toxic work environment.” During the subsequent investigation, WB spoke with eight female staffers and compiled a damning collection of allegations:
One woman said Franklin would talk about orgies he had over the weekend. Another woman, supported by a third, claimed that Franklin had his assistant request that all the writers come to his mansion and they were reminded multiple times to bring their bikinis. Franklin was also said to have complained about having to hire directors who were women or people of color, expressing preference for male writers, apologizing to his staff for not dating Jewish women, describing female directors as “all the same” and making sexualized comments.
Amid the usual sexual harassment and casual misogyny, Franklin is said to have made offensive, inappropriate, and bizarre comments about female staffers such as, “I wish I could make all the women on my staff get hysterectomies,” and, “She’s one nose job away from a good f*** about one of the underage girls” (whatever the hell that even means). Platon’s declaration also states that Behar’s testimony “was not a substantial factor in my concluding that Franklin had created a toxic and inappropriate work environment. Rather, Mr. Behar’s statements only corroborated some of the less serious statements made by the other witnesses,” including seven of the eight female staffers interviewed by Warner Bros.
Everywhere you look, everywhere you look... There’s a man sexually harassing women.
