Sunu Gonera, co-creator and executive producer of AMC’s upcoming drama series “Parish,” has been removed from the project following an internal investigation into “very serious allegations” against him.
“We recently became aware of some very serious allegations against an individual working on this production, who was immediately suspended and then terminated at the conclusion of an internal investigation,” AMC told Variety in a statement.
Deadline reported on Monday afternoon that “according to multiple sources, the allegation was of sexual assault over an incident that occurred in late September at an off-set apartment outside of production hours.”
Variety confirmed that A3 Artists no longer represents Gonera as a client. Thruline Entertainment, Gonera’s management, declined to comment.
Gonera co-created “Parish” with Danny Brocklehurst based on a U.K. format by Brocklehurst and Jim Poyser. Theo Travers serves as showrunner, and Gonera directed the pilot. Giancarlo Esposito stars as a taxi driver whose life is turned upside down when he agrees to chauffer a New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangster notorious for exploiting undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern ports. The series, which is set to debut on AMC and AMC Plus in 2023, was greenlit in March of this year.
Gonera has directed episodes of CBS’ “Madam Secretary,” Starz’s “The Rook,” FX’s “Snowfall,” Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” and HBO Max’s “Raised By Wolves.” He is the writer and director of Netflix’s 2020 South African film “Riding With Sugar.” He is also a writer and executive producer on “Class of ’09,” FX and Hulu’s upcoming limited series starring Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara.