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Daniel Stern recalls being a whistleblower on ‘90s sitcom over costars’ alleged harassment in new memoir
Daniel Stern is recalling the time he was a whistleblower on a ‘90s sitcom.
In his new memoir, “Home and Alone,” the actor writes about how he was initially thrilled to sign on to star in “Partners” in 1999. Unfortunately, the show fell apart amid accusations of sexual harassment and a multi-million dollar lawsuit leveled against the “Home Alone” star.
“They offered me a boatload of money, made me an executive producer… they had a big-name director, Brett Ratner and we cast great actors, including Jeremy Piven,” he recalls in his tome, reiterating that he originally had high hopes for the series.
Stern alleges that soon after they began filming the pilot, women on set started confiding in him, claiming, that both “Brett and Jeremy were sexually harassing them, and they were afraid.”
The “Breaking Away” star claims he told the other executive producers about what he had heard, but was allegedly advised “to just keep quiet about it” as they “would handle it.”
Stern writes that he was eventually called into a meeting with Columbia TV honchos who were allegedly annoyed with him for bringing up his concerns. Per his retelling, they believed the show had a good chance of getting picked up and didn’t want any controversy hurting the show.
As he was leaving, Stern claims a producer pulled him aside and yelled, “Don’t you say a f–king word to anyone, or we’ll sue you!”
Stern claims he was told specifically not to tell then-CEO of CBS, Les Moonves, who resigned in 2018 over allegations of sexual harassment.
However, days before CBS unveiled its lineup, a producer allegedly called Stern in a fury – falsely accusing the actor of leaving a message for Moonves about how he didn’t want to do the series.
When the show didn’t get picked up, Columbia TV sued “The Wonder Years” alum for $25 million for allegedly “sabotaging the show.”
After spending a fortune on lawyers, an arrangement was struck. The actor had to return the money he’d been paid for the show and the lawsuit would be dropped.
“It was a a terrifying experience,” the “Diner” star exclusively told Page Six. “It was unfathomable what was going on. I felt like I was in quicksand. What started as a wonderful thing, it just turned sour.”
Stern noted that the debacle hurt his career and left him feeling “embarrassed” and “afraid of the industry” in a certain way.
“It wore off relatively quickly,” he explained, “but I felt changed.”
“The Wonder Years” alum admitted that he still has no idea what really happened, but wrote in his book, “Thank God for the MeToo movement. And F–k Brett Ratner, F–k Jeremy Piven F–k Les Moonves, and F–k that top-level executive at Columbia!”
Reps for Piven and Ratner did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
As Page Six previously reported, three women came forward accusing Piven of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Meanwhile, Olivia Munn claimed Ratner masturbated in front of her on a movie set in 2004, while Moonves allegedly tried to mislead CBS by hiding evidence of his sexual misconduct in 2018.
Piven has adamantly denied any allegations of improper behavior and called himself “collateral damage” of the #MeToo movement. Ratner has also denied all allegations made against him in the past.
