YouTube Red made a major coup in September when it picked up Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! from acclaimed documentarian Morgan Spurlock for a reported $3.5 million. But following admissions of sexual misconduct by Spurlock — whose first hit Super Size Me documentary explored the ills of the fast food industry — YouTube said it was dropping the film.
In a Twitter post entitled I Am Part Of The Problem, Spurlock concedes that, “When I was in college, a girl who I hooked up with on a one-night-stand accused me of rape.” He also admitted that he’d previously settled a sexual harassment allegation with a former female assistant for calling her “hot pants” and “sex pants.” Finally, Spurlock claimed that he’s been “unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I have ever had.”
“We feel for all of the women impacted by the recent statements made by Morgan Spurlock,” a YouTube spokeswoman told The Hollywood Reporter. “In light of this situation, we have decided not to distribute Super Size Me 2 on YouTube Red.”
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Spurlock’s production company, Warrior Poets (from which he has since stepped down), pulled the film from its upcoming screening at the Sundance Film Festival. YouTube picked up the film — in which Spurlock opens a chicken restaurant in order to discern whether meals really offer the nutritional value they claim — from the Toronto International Film Festival, where it premiered.
Spurlock’s admission arrives amid a tide shift in American culture, wherein several powerful male executives and entertainers — including Kevin Spacey, Defy Media‘s Andy Signore, and Amazon‘s Roy Price — have been fired following claims of sexual misconduct.
