After discovering that one of her co-workers is a registered sex offender, Olivia Munn took action and demanded that his scene be excised from the final cut of Shane Black‘s The Predator. With the film premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday night and only days from hitting theaters, audiences won’t bear witness to scene featuring a jogger who relentlessly hits on Munn’s character. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Twentieth Century Fox confirmed hours before the premiere that the scene was axed because one of the actors in it is a registered sex offender.
Steven Wilder Striegel is the actor at the center of the controversy. Striegel pleaded guilty in 2010 to risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer; he served six months in prison, according to court records. As noted by the LA Times, Striegel attempted to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual relationship through the Internet by making sexually graphic suggestions to the victim. The actor and the girl allegedly had physical contact, which included “kissing, touching [the minor’s] breast over her clothing, rubbing her legs and stroking her neck,” though Striegel denies this claim.
When Munn confronted 20th Century Fox with her discovery, the studio quickly removed Striegel’s scene “within 24 hours,” a spokesman for the company told The Washington Post in an emailed statement. Striegel, whose professional name is Steve Wilder, initially managed to avoid the attention of Fox; the company claims that it was “not aware of Mr. Striegel’s background when he was hired.”
The Predator director Shane Black cannot share that deniability, as he and Striegel have been friends for 14 years, with Black previously hiring Striegel for small roles in Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys. Striegel admitted to the LA Times in an email that Black was “aware of the facts.”
“This was an enormously unfortunate chapter in my life, and one that I took, and continue to take, personal responsibility for,” he said. “If I had even an inkling that my involvement with The Predator would be a point of difficulty for Shane Black, or cast any kind of shadow over a movie that I wish only great success for, I would, of course, never have been involved in any capacity.”
Initially, Black stood by his decision to cast Striegel. Black said Striegel got “caught up in a bad situation versus something lecherous,” the LA Times reported. “I personally chose to help a friend,” he said. “I can understand others might disapprove, as his conviction was on a sensitive charge and not to be taken lightly.”
However, after the news broke and more disturbing facts emerged, Black changed his tune. “Having read this morning’s news reports, it has sadly become clear to me that I was misled by a friend I really wanted to believe was telling me the truth when he described the circumstances of his conviction,” Black said in a statement to The Washington Post. “I believe strongly in giving people second chances — but sometimes you discover that chance is not as warranted as you may have hoped. After learning more about the affidavit, transcripts and additional details surrounding Steve Striegel’s sentence, I am deeply disappointed in myself,” he said. “I apologize to all of those, past and present, I’ve let down by having Steve around them without giving them a voice in the decision.”
Munn, who was one of six women who accused director Brett Ratner of sexually harassing or assaulting them in 2017, took to Twitter to voice her displeasure with the situation.
Black and Munn avoided interviews on the red carpet at the premiere of The Predator. Munn, though contractually obliged to appear at the event, tweeted later, “I think they’d prefer I not show up. It would make everyone breathe easier.” She added that she would have “done red carpet interviews, but I was ushered past and told we didn’t have time.” For their parts, Munn’s castmates Keegan-Michael Key, Jake Busey, and Trevante Rhodes voiced their support for the studio’s decision to cut the scene from the film.
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