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Olivia Munn Says Her Concerns Working With Predator Sex Offender Were Met With Initial Silence

Photo: Photo Credit: Kimberley French/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.  Not for sale or duplication.

A few days after 20th Century Fox admitted it cut a scene from its upcoming Predator movie because it featured a registered sex offender, one of the film’s stars, Olivia Munn, is expressing dissatisfaction that it took too long for Fox to address her concerns. As previously reported, Predator director Shane Black cast his longtime pal Steven Wilder Striegel in a small role, who shares a scene with Munn as a jogger hitting on her character. When Munn discovered this summer that Striegel pleaded guilty to a sex crimes charge and served a brief jail sentence as a result, she alerted the studio, which eventually ruled to cut the scene entirely. However, Munn wishes Fox was more transparent about how it was addressing the situation, as executives initially remained quiet when she came to them with the information. “When I called, [Fox] was silent for two days,” she told Variety in a new interview. “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.”

Even if Fox was working on a solution during that time, Munn said, the silence and no clear communication was disheartening. “I’m not saying they weren’t working on it behind the scenes,” Munn continued. “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.” Black has since apologized for casting Striegel, admitting that his initial instincts to “help a friend” were misguided. “I believe strongly in giving people second chances — but sometimes you discover that chance is not as warranted as you may have hoped,” he explained. The Predator is still set for a September 13 release.

Olivia Munn Says Fox Initially Ignored Her Predator Concerns