‘Search Party’ producer Charles Rogers accused of sexual assault
A production assistant who worked on the HBO Max series Search Party has accused showrunner Charles Rogers of sexual assault.
The assistant, named Evan Schwartz, has come forward claiming that Rogers drugged him before sexually assaulting him. Schwartz alleged that the incident occurred in 2020.
According to The Wrap, HBO previously investigated the incident and cleared Rogers of any wrongdoing. However, on January 6th, Schwartz took to social media, denouncing the investigation as corrupt.
“HBO’s HR investigator gaslit me into exonerating Charles,” he wrote. “Because of the psychotic episode, I believed I made this all up, and I even sent him an email telling him he did nothing wrong.”
An unnamed person close to Rogers reacted to The Wrap: “The facts speak for themselves as evidenced by this individual’s decision to retract his own statement amid a thorough, third-party investigation which found no wrongdoing. Charles unequivocally denies this claim regarding a mutually consensual relationship.”
Accompanying Schwatrz’s recent post on X was a photograph of him and Rogers in bed together. “This is a selfie Charles Rogers took on my phone the morning after sexually assaulting me in 2020. I was his driver on the shoot for Search Party, which ran from 2016 to 2022,” he captioned.
Adding: “After he took this selfie he joked, ‘I have a lawyer in case someone me too’s me.’ I don’t remember falling asleep that night.”
In the series of X posts, Schwartz also suggested that Rogers drugged him to gain an advantage. “Charles was the writer/director of the show – I was his driver, he was my boss,” Schwartz wrote. “He indeed handed me a drink right before we left the party, which I drank half of. He told the investigator, ‘I wouldn’t know how to drug somebody.’”
Schwartz added that the incident caused him “psychological damage” that is “beyond words”. “I will post my detailed account of everything, including the psychotic episode, soon,” he noted. “There are so many insane details to this story.”
At present, Rogers has not responded to the accusations.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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