Former “X-Men ’97” showrunner Beau DeMayo is seeking an expedited jury trial as his legal battle with Disney rages on.
The cartoon creator’s lawyer Bryan Freedman filed his complaint in L.A. Superior Court on Tuesday. The main push of the filing, obtained by TheWrap, surrounds the attempted removal of an alleged “illegal non-disparagement provision” from DeMayo’s exit package.
“DeMayo, who intends to detail his prior employment with Marvel via OnlyFans, bore witness to and endured rampant discriminatory and harassing conduct during his years-long tenure with the company,” the filing states. “Well aware that DeMayo possessed copious knowledge regarding Marvel’s illicit and unsafe employment practices, the company sought to silence DeMayo as part of his forced ouster.”
The documents continue, “Backed by an army of well-versed employment attorneys, Marvel knowingly incorporated an illegal non-disparagement provision designed to muzzle an openly gay Black man and restrict his statutory rights. And, in fact, Marvel invoked this unenforceable provision to justify its nefarious removal of DeMayo’s credits on the acclaimed series ‘X-Men ‘97.’”
In a Wednesday statement to TheWrap, Freedman aims to strip the non-disparagement clause from DeMayo’s NDA.
“There are only two possible explanations for why Marvel and Disney had Beau sign an NDA that so obviously violated basic California law,” Freedman said. “Either incredulously Marvel and Disney’s hundreds of lawyers who advise over 250,000 employees all just happened to make a mistake or Marvel knowingly and intentionally attempted to silence Beau so they could have total control as to why he was no longer at Marvel, why he had his credits removed on Season 2 and why he was uninvited to attend the very award show that nominated his hard work for an Emmy. Violating Beau’s statutory California rights will cost Marvel this case but more importantly, Marvel can no longer stop the truth from coming out.”
DeMayo defended himself on OnlyFans this week in a 30-minute video. In it, he claimed Marvel and Disney have run a “smear campaign designed to discredit my credibility in order to cover up the egregious prejudicial misconduct stretching from select crew members on ‘X-Men ’97,’ all the way to the top at Marvel Studios.”
He added that working at Marvel was a “toxic environment” with “near criminal working conditions.” According to him, Marvel’s work environment “turns individuals against one another, stokes paranoia to ensure compliance.”
Marvel revealed in August that DeMayo was let go after they conducted an internal investigation into the former showrunner.
“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” a Marvel spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
The news was first reported by Deadline.
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