“X-Men ’97” creator Beau DeMayo’s attorney released a statement Friday in response to Disney stating that the showrunner had been fired from the animated series revival over “egregious” misconduct.
Citing previous experience with Disney, Bryan Freedman said in a statement that the company was “family friendly on the outside, but secretly attempting to plant illegal unconscionable items in contracts that silence the truth and stop the employee/customer from asserting basic constitutional rights.” He promised an impending legal response.
“Over the next few months, with the brave help of those who have been illegally silenced, retaliated for simply telling the truth and then destroyed for it, one by one this bullying and illegal conduct will be exposed to the government,” Freedman stated. “Beau DeMayo wants nothing from Marvel/Disney except the truth. He will bravely tell the truth. So will I. Stand by.”
DeMayo kicked off a string of back and forth between himself and Disney on Thursday evening when he charged the company with pulling his Season 2 credits on “X-Men ’97” over fan art he’d posted of himself in a skimpy X-Men costume for Pride Month. He had completed work on the first two seasons of the series before being fired and replaced for Season 3.
The company responded by noting that DeMayo was terminated in March after an internal investigation, severing ties due to “the egregious nature of the findings,” without noting what those specific findings were. An individual with knowledge of the situation said that DeMayo was fired over sexual misconduct, with his writing credits removed after repeatedly violating the terms of his termination agreement with Disney.
While DeMayo’s behind-the-scenes behavior remains unknown, the writer had frequently posted provocative photos of himself on social media and ran a non-explicit OnlyFans account. DeMayo has been outspoken about his work on the show, livetweeting episodes of “X-Men ’97” and sharing behind the scenes details of its creation. His own identity as an LGBTQ+ creator was a key part of the inspiration for the “X-Men ’97” revival of the classic 1990s cartoon series, centering queer identity through the metaphor of mutants throughout the show.
In replies to his original tweet, DeMayo added, “Above is #XMen fan-art I posted on Instagram for Gay Pride in June. On June 13, #Marvel sent a letter notifying me that they’d stripped my Season 2 credits due to the post. Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while on working on #XMen97 and #Blade. I’ll have more to say soon but must take a step back from social media to find a safer space for me to be out, proud and nerdy. Stay tuned.”
Shortly after on Thursday evening, DeMayo linked to a story that included Marvel’s response to his tweet and added his own reply: “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.”
Read Bryan Freedman’s full statement on behalf of DeMayo below:
Having much experience with Disney, the playbook is always the same. Family friendly on the outside, but secretly attempting to plant illegal unconscionable items in contracts that silence the truth and stop the employee/customer from asserting basic constitutional rights. As we will explain through detailed examples which we will roll out in detail one by one, Disney’s model is very clear and a repetitive illegal pattern. 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. The problem for Disney is that when they go up against someone who has concrete evidence of this happening over 100 times, many of which have led to them settling hundreds of cases if not thousands to try and continue to control critics, employees and even lawyers who sue them. The problem for them is that I have the evidence and clients willing to be truthful and they know it. These are actually facts not argument or conjecture. Over the next few months, with the brave help of those who have been illegally silenced, retaliated for simply telling the truth and then destroyed for it, one by one this bullying and illegal conduct will be exposed to the government. Beau DeMayo wants nothing from Marvel/Disney except the truth. He will bravely tell the truth. So will I. Stand by.
This news was first reported by Variety.
