Following the scandal with Katharine McPhee, the director fell out of Songbyrd, one of E!’s first scripted pilots.

Deadline reports that Michael Morris just exited E! Entertainment’s newest pilot, Songbyrd.

The music-centered show revolves around the life of a songwriter, Lauren Byrd (played by One Tree Hill‘s Bethany Joy Lenz), and is set to begin next season.

Morris, married and father of three kids, was caught kissing singer/actress Katharine McPhee, who he met while producing seven episodes of NBC’s cancelled show, Smash.

The scandal motivated his move to leave Songbyrd‘s team, where he was supposed to reunite with his Smash colleagues Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who are set to executive produce the new show.