‘Super Size Me 2’ Pulled From Sundance Film Festival After Morgan Spurlock Admits To Sexual Misconduct
Morgan Spurlock bucked the trend in Hollywood and didn’t wait for his sexual misconduct accusers to make their move first. Instead, the popular documentarian decided to confess his misdeeds via Twitter amid a sea of accusations against many celebrities including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and most recently, Mario Batali. Despite coming forward on his own, the Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! producer is feeling the sting after his latest documentary and another project were both pulled from the Sundance Film Festival.
The decision came as a surprise, mostly because it wasn’t organizers of the Sundance Film Festival who made the call. It was Spurlock’s Warrior Poets production company partners, Jeremy Chilnick and Matthew Galkin, who decided not to attend.
In a statement made to the Washington Post. Chilnick and Galkin explained their decision to pull Super Size Me 2 from the festival. After Morgan Spurlock made his sexual conduct confession, his partners decided “this is not the appropriate time” to debut the film.
“Due to Morgan Spurlock stepping down from Warrior Poets, we, the partners, have decided that this is not the appropriate time for Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Therefore, we will be removing the documentary from the festival’s slate,” their full statement read.
YouTube Red acquired the rights to the fast food follow up. They purchased rights for $3.5 million after it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. According to a representative for YouTube, they will no longer be releasing the film.
Those aren’t the only losses Spurlock is experiencing after coming forward and admitting that he is part of the problem that has been plaguing Hollywood for decades. Another film produced by Spurlock was dropped from the Sundance Film Festival.
Pretty Matches Productions and Refinery29 ended their deals with Morgan Spurlock and released a scathing statement.
“In light of recent revelations, Pretty Matches and Refinery29 are severing ties with Morgan Spurlock. We stand in solidarity with the victims. We are suspending production on ‘Who Rules the World’ (WT) to reevaluate the best path forward for the project, and are more determined than ever to share women’s stories through this series.”
It all started when Morgan Spurlock took to Twitter with his confession on December 14. The popular documentarian posted a short message, “I am part of the problem. Read:” and a link to a Twitlonger message that may be the end of his career.
“I don’t sit by and wonder ‘who will be next?’ I wonder, ‘when will they come for me?'” the shocking confession read. “You see, I’ve come to understand after months of these revelations, that I am not some innocent bystander, I am also a part of the problem.”
Spurlock’s confession continued with examples of his past misconduct including the story of a woman in college who claimed that he raped her when he believed the sex was consensual. He also admitted to a sexual harassment issue with a former female assistant. Apparently, she wasn’t amused when he called her “hot pants” or “sex pants” while on the job and she complained about it.
There’s so much more Spurlock admitted to in his Twitlonger confession, including his rampant infidelity. He also added a list of reasons why he might have done it. From sexual abuse suffered as a child to his parent’s divorce, Spurlock tried to explain it away, but the deflection was lost much in the way Kevin Spacey finally admitting that he is a gay man was also thrown to the side.
Even with Morgan Spurlock’s confession, he is still losing projects. His films aren’t being shown or distributed and popular media outlets are cutting ties. Even after his apology and after he vowed to be a “part of the solution,” Spurlock is still being punished for his misdeeds.