Olivia Munn is happy that Fox cut a scene from the upcoming reboot/sequel The Predator that featured a registered sex offender, but she’s less thrilled with how the issue was initially handled.
In an interview with Variety, Munn said that she only discovered this summer that Steven Wilder Striegel, with whom she shared a scene in the film, once pleaded guilty to sex crime charges and served jail time. According to Munn, she called Fox about the situation but didn’t hear back right away.
“When I called, [Fox] was silent for two days,” Munn told Variety. “I did have to reach out again and say I didn’t feel comfortable presenting at the MTV Awards with Keegan [Michael Key] unless this guy was out of it.”
The lack of instant transparency rubbed Munn the wrong way, especially given the #MeToo movement and the focus on sexual assault and abuse in Hollywood in recent months. She did say, however, that she doesn’t know for sure if Fox was handling the situation, just that she wasn’t made aware they were taking action.
“I’m not saying they weren’t working on it behind the scenes,” she said. “I just didn’t hear anything about it. But I’m happy that they did obviously because I’m proud of the work we did in this movie, we all worked really, really hard, and I wouldn’t be able to morally stand behind this movie with this guy in there.”
Siegel got the gig because of his longtime friendship with Shane Black, the film’s director, who’s also responsible for The Nice Guys, as well as writing the original Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout. Black has since apologized for not informing the cast and crew of Siegel’s history, and has said that his attempt to help a friend in need was misguided.
“I believe strongly in giving people second chances,” Black said, “but sometimes you discover that chance is not as warranted as you may have hoped.” The Predator will open in theaters on September 13.
