The Predator actress Olivia Munn says she was "chastised" by 20th Century Fox for telling her co-stars about a deleted scene involving registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel. Last week, it was reported that Munn had issued a complaint to Fox about Striegel's casting, causing the studio to quickly take action in removing the scene from the film.
In 2010, Striegel plead guilty when charged with attempting to lure a 14-year-old female relative into a sexual relationship. Striegel served six months in jail for his crime. Director Shane Black cast Striegel in the small role of a jogger who hits on Olivia Munn's character in The Predator, as the two have been friends for several years. The scene was filmed in February of last year. Black chose not to inform the cast and crew - or the studio - of Striegel's history as a sex offender. It was Munn who brought the issue to Fox's attention. His only scene in the movie was removed just days before the final cut was finished.
Related: Boyd Holbrook Supports Olivia Munn In Predator's Sex Offender Controversy
In an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Olivia Munn spoke about what happened, as well as the support she's seen from social media and news outlets. Munn also addressed the lack of support from the cast and the studio. Munn said that after being "blindsided" by Striegel's sex offender status, she decided to share the information with her co-stars. Munn went on to say that Fox "chastised" her for her decision.
When I did call my co-stars, I got chastised the next day by people at the studio for telling them, and why am I not just, you know, just keeping it quiet, 'it's all going to be okay', 'it got deleted', 'what's the big deal?' And well, it happened.
Fox initially received praise from both Munn and actor Sterling K. Brown for deleting the scene, however, Munn's latest comments shine a new light on how Fox planned on handling the situation. Fox's reaction shows that the studio wanted to keep it quiet and avoid controversy, while Munn believed it was necessary to address the problem, both to co-stars and in a statement to the L.A. Times. Munn has talked about feeling "isolated" by the majority of the cast's silence over the issue.
Fox claims they were unaware of Striegel's past due to "legal limitations" that keep them from running criminal background checks on actors. Black admits that the cast should have been informed, and while he issued a public apology about having cast Striegel, he hasn't delivered a personal apology to Munn.
More: Olivia Munn & The Predator: A Timeline Of The Cut Scene Controversy
Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show
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