Per The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, CBS has severed all ties with showrunner and producer Peter Lenkov. The split includes Lenkov’s removal from both of his revivals, Magnum P.I. and MacGyver, as well as the termination of his overall development deal with CBS Television Studios. Wasting no additional time, the network has already replaced Lenkov on both shows: Going forward, Monica Macer will helm MacGyver and Eric Guggenheim will run Magnum P.I. Both currently serve as executive producers on their respective dramas.
“Our studio is committed to ensuring safe and respectful production environments,” a CBS rep said to Variety in a statement. “Over the past year, we have assigned human resource production partners to every show, expanded staff training and increased reporting options. We will continue to evolve our practices with continued focus on building trust with all who work on our sets. Every complaint is taken seriously, every claim is investigated, and when evidence is clear that policies were violated and values not upheld, we take decisive action.”
Lenkov has been accused of cultivating a toxic, misogynistic environment by making crude jokes on set and openly behaving more favorably towards the men. According to Variety, sources specified a number of allegedly sexist “jokes,” including one involving a female CSI:NY writer who happened to be dating a network exec at the time. “[Lenkov] joked that the writer who was dating the executive wasn’t doing her job in bed because the executive was cranky,” the source said, which was apparently Lenkov’s response after said executive dared to give him a creative note.
Following his ouster, Lenkov released a statement of apology:
“Now is the time to listen and I am listening. It’s difficult to hear that the working environment I ran was not the working environment my colleagues deserved, and for that, I am deeply sorry. I accept responsibility for what I am hearing and am committed to doing the work that is required to do better and be better.”
The ex-producer was also the showrunner on the recently ended reboot Hawaii Five-O, which came under fire in 2018 when Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park exited the show over serious pay discrepancies between them and their co-workers.