On May 24, 2024, director Morgan Spurlock passed away in upstate New York at 53 years old surrounded by friends and family after succumbing to a long battle with cancer. “It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” brother Craig Spurlock said in a statement following his brother Morgan’s death. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. Today the world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”

In 2004, Spurlock’s documentary Super Size Me took the American public by storm, influencing the public’s perception of the iconic McDonald’s franchise and ultimately leading to the cancellation of the chain’s supersize menu. Throughout the film, Spurlock eats McDonald’s food for thirty days, supersizing each serving to demonstrate the effects of junk food sold to America.

Born in West Virginia in 1970, Spurlock’s career in the film industry extended well beyond Super Size Me, including films such as Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?, Spurlock’s comedic attempt at catching the terrorist responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, the sequel to the iconic original film. Released in 2017, Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! proved to be Spurlock’s final film after falling into controversy following his release of a blog post titled “I am Part of the Problem”, in which Spurlock addresses allegations of sexual assault and misconduct throughout his career. In the blog post, Spurlock admitted to a history of sexual misconduct and described the allegations against him during college. After releasing the post, he stepped away from Warrior Poets, his production company, and retired from filmmaking.

Spurlock leaves his sons, Laken and Kallen, and parents, Phyllis and Ben, and his brothers, Craig and Barry.