In response to the controversy surrounding his casting and whether he should have been excluded from the project because of his alleged past, Howard said "I hope that nothing will take away from the truly special project we all worked so hard on. I hope people enjoy it because it has been such a wonderful experience working with this cast and Fox." Danny Strong admitted that he was not made aware of Howard's past until several months into the project. Strong said that while he did not condone Howard's alleged past behavior, "it is the polar opposite of what I've experienced with him, one-on-one and on set." Producer Brian Grazer put faith in Howard to "do right." Howard is a "guy that cares a lot... and he's been great with us on our sets, so I can only speak to that," Grazer continued. Fox executive Dana Walden described Howard as "a great partner." Walden explained that while it was the choice of the creators to hire Howard, the actor had impressed her and her co-chair Gary Newman. Walden also admitted that she and Newman were not made aware of the allegations until December 2014. By that time, Howard had been working with the network for nearly a year and showed no signs of trouble.
