A production assistant who worked on the Max original series “Search Party” has accused showrunner Charles Rogers of drugging and sexually assaulting him in 2020.
A past investigation by the network into the alleged assault cleared Rogers, but Evan Schwartz said he was “gaslit” into “exonerating” the writer-producer in social media posts shared on Saturday.
“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,” an individual close to Rogers said in a statement to TheWrap.
Schwartz (@izzio123), who renewed earlier accusations with his posts over the weekend, shared an image to X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote, “This is a selfie Charles Rogers took on my phone the morning after sexually assaulting me in 2020,” he wrote in the caption, explaining that he was Rogers’ driver during production.
“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. Charles was the writer/director of the show – I was his driver, he was my boss. He indeed handed me a drink right before we left the party, which I drank half of,” Schwartz wrote.
“My red eyes and drool running down my chin in that photo should say everything you need to know,” added the P.A. “The psychological damage this has caused me is beyond words…”
He added that a year later he suffered “severe psychosis and delusions” and that the network’s human resources investigator “gaslit me into exonerating Charles… 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.”
Schwartz wrote that Rogers denied the assault and the drugging to the investigator, saying, “I wouldn’t know how to drug somebody.”
“Evan recanted his statement in writing after making the claim. Prior to that, an investigation was conducted and the investigators were unable to corroborate any of the allegations,” an individual close to the production said in a statement to TheWrap on Monday.
“Search Party” ran for five seasons, two on TBS and three on Max, and starred Alia Shawkat. The series was cocreated by Rogers, Michael Showalter and Sarah-Violet Bliss.
Rogers’ other credits include writing for Netflix’s “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” and “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later.” He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the indie comedy “Fort Tilden,” which he co-helmed with Bliss.
