Yesterday we reported that the disagreement between Disney and X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo was escalating into a battle of statements and press releases. Yesterday evening it went nuclear.
As we reported at the time, Marvel fired DeMayo just one week before X-Men ’97 premiered. No reasons were given, and he retained his credits for the second season, still to air. Then a few days ago, he was suddenly stripped of his credits.
DeMayo allegedly claimed Marvel sent a letter notifying him that they had stripped him of his second season credits due to a posting a piece of fan art for Gay Pride. This seemed a weird move for Disney, given the company has been so Queer friendly that it had issues with its core audience and even Florida regulators over their stance.
Disney fired back that this was not the case, and simply pointed to an internal investigation revealing “egregious” findings that drove Disney to strip his credits. No further details were given.
Of course, this is Hollywood, and it didn’t take long for allegations to be made in the trades due to “sources”. These sources claimed the investigations were over alleged sexual misconduct, while the credit removal was due to constant breaches of the separation agreement.
Following this, of course, digging was done. The Insneider carried a follow-up report stating the allegations against DeMayo involved unsolicited photos and claims of emotional and physical abuse of staffers.
DeMayo has immediately lawyered up. His lawyer is notorious Hollywood legal eagle and wrongful termination industry specialist Brian Freedman.
Freedman wasted no time – straight into Deadline with a fiery statement:
“Once it gets challenged or exposed, the gaslighting and redirection of the blame toward anyone willing to tell the truth starts through an international well oiled publicity machine. [DeMayo] wants nothing from Marvel/Disney except the truth. He will bravely tell the truth. So will I. Stand by.”
DeMayo himself has issued a new statement on X saying:
“The truth will be revealed. After their Disney Plus disaster, Marvel wants to mislead with alleged contract breaches over tweets. It’s tragic it’s come to this but unsurprising. Stay tuned.”
Get your popcorn, bitches! This one is gonna be good…