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.”
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.
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