The controversy involving Beau DeMayo and Marvel continues. The X-Men ’97 creator has accused his former employer of harboring a “toxic environment” with “near criminal working conditions.” DeMayo’s allegations come about a few weeks after Marvel responded to his initial statement on the circumstances in which he left X-Men ’97.
Former X-Men ’97 showrunner fires back at Marvel and Disney in new video
On Wednesday, September 4, DeMayo took to his OnlyFans profile and shared a 30-minute-long video. In it, he claimed Marvel’s allegations against him were “false,” “offensive,” and part of a smear campaign.
“These allegations of egregious misconduct are false,” DeMayo claimed. “The rumors being spread around me online are lies, and they are offensive but more concerning is that they’re 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 elaborated. (via ComicBook)
Marvel fired DeMayo, who served as the showrunner in X-Men ’97 Season 1, days before the show’s premiere. The studio later replaced him with Matthew Chauncey as writer for the third season. In August, DeMayo took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that Marvel fired him for posting an X-Men fan art on Instagram during the Pride Month. He attached a screenshot of the post as well.
In his response, a Marvel spokesperson said that DeMayo was fired after an internal investigation reportedly uncovered “egregious” findings. The studio didn’t explain the matter further. But, Deadline cited Marvel sources, mentioning that DeMayo faced the investigation due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Quoting Marvel sources further, the outlet stated that the company removed DeMayo’s credits from the sophomore season because of a violation of his separation agreement.
However, in the video mentioned above, DeMayo claimed that he was a witness of misconduct during his tenure on X-Men ’97 and the Blade movie, and even experienced it firsthand. He accused the entertainment giant of creating “near-criminal working conditions” for the VFX and animation artists. He also listed in the video several inappropriate comments that certain artists, producers, and Marvel executives made toward him or in his presence.
Further, DeMayo’s attorney Bryan Freedman recently filed a lawsuit against Marvel to nullify the non-disparagement provision in his separation agreement. Notably, DeMayo plans to use OnlyFans to speak about what happened at Marvel.
