Marvel has broken its silence on its abrupt firing of “X-Men ‘97” creator Beau DeMayo, after he accused the studio of doing away with his credits for the show’s sophomore season.
The Disney superhero TV and film outlet said it “terminated” DeMayo before “X-Men ‘97” premiered in March after it conducted an internal investigation, a Marvel spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Times. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel,” the statement said.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of DeMayo’s exit a week before the animated show, a continuation of the ‘90s series, landed on Disney+. He completed work for Season 1 and Season 2 before his firing, for which Marvel did not disclose a reason at the time.
A source familiar with DeMayo’s termination told The Times on Friday that the studio’s internal investigation involved alleged sexual misconduct. DeMayo has continued to post about “X-Men 97” on social media, breaching terms of the termination agreement the source says he reached with the studio in March.
In June, DeMayo shared an Instagram photo of a fan drawing that showed an animated version of him shirtless and wearing “X-Men” mutant Cyclops’ gear, including his signature glasses. “Happy Pride!,” DeMayo captioned the fan illustration. He alleged on Thursday that Marvel sent him a letter in June “notifying me that they’d stripped my Season 2 credits due” to the Pride Month post.
He also tweeted that it was “the latest in the troubling pattern I suffered through while working on #XMen97 and #Blade.” He reportedly was a writer for early drafts of delayed reboot. After raising his allegations against Marvel, DeMayo said he would take a step back from social media “to find a safer space for me to be out, proud and nerdy.”
The source said Marvel did away with DeMayo’s Season 2 credits after Marvel repeatedly warned him that he was violating the separation agreement. The studio also found it necessary to address DeMayo’s exit after his recent social media posts, the source added.
Attorney Bryan J. Freedman, who represents DeMayo, accused Marvel parent company Disney of carrying out a “repetitive illegal pattern” in a statement shared Friday with The Times.
“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,” Freedman said. “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.”
He added: “The problem for them is that I have the evidence and clients willing to be truthful and they know it.”
The first season of “X-Men ‘97” made its Disney+ debut on March 20 and has received praise from critics and audiences alike. Season 1 concluded May 15 with a three-part episode titled “Tolerance Is Extinction.”
In another tweet shared Thursday, DeMayo responded to reports of Marvel’s retort. “The truth will be revealed,” he wrote.
“After their Disney Plus disaster, Marvel wants to mislead with alleged contract breaches over tweets,” he continued. “It’s tragic it’s come to this but unsurprising. Stay tuned.”