[UPDATE: Shortly after this article’s publication, not only did Disney offer an official response to DeMayo’s accusation, but The Hollywood Reporter gleamed more information into the situation from their alleged insider sources. The original article has thus been edited to bring its timeline up to speed.]
In the latest development regarding the series’ tumultuous behind-the-scenes drama, in response to former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo’s allegation that the company stripped him of his Season 2 credits because he shared a Pride-themed piece of fan art to his personal Instagram account, Disney has claimed z by alleging that he was actually let go for “sexual misconduct”
DeMayo, who was booted from his role as series showrunner just days before its premiere for still as-of-yet-unrevealed reasons, put forth his accusation on August 15th.
Taking to his personal Twitter, the former X-Men ’97 boss asserted, “Firstly, I’m so grateful to have worked on #XMen97, collaborating with some amazingly talented folks. Creating this revival was a dream come true and the support fans have shown is so touching. However, I felt it pressing for me to speak up in the wake of leaving the show…???”
Sharing a screenshot of an Instagram post in which he shared a piece of fan art drawn by New York City-based artist Jn’eyde depicting him in a risqué Cyclops cosplay and captioned it with the simple declaration “Happy Pride! Thank you @nartz.print [Jn’eyde’s social media handle] for this. So cool!”, DeMayo then alleged, “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,” he added. “Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while on working on #XMen97 and [the MCU’s still-in-production-limbo film] #Blade.”
Unfortunately, outside of his initial claim, DeMayo did not provide any further details regarding this supposed interaction, instead closing out his thoughts in his next post by declaring, “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.”
Notably, should everything gone down as DeMayo has said, this move would have come well after he departed the Disney offices.
As such, this would mean that Disney’s supposed decision to strip of his credits is unrelated to whatever mysterious circumstances caused his original exit.
As to just what involvement the showrunner had with regards to the X-Men’s next outing, in clarifying the situation for a fan via Twitter, DeMayo explained, “I did write a lot of season 2. However, unlike Season 1, I will not be heavily involved or leading production, cast records, design, editorial, post, music, etc., nor doing any production rewrites as it relates to the creative vision of the show.”
Further, another interesting point is the fact that DeMayo’s revelation comes just a month after Deadline‘s Nellie Andreeva reported that, according to her inside sources, all of the former showrunner’s completed scripts for Season 2 had been completed revised by Disney.
Shortly after DeMayo made his posts, Disney responded to his accusations via an official statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” a Marvel spokesperson told the outlet. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately, and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
According to THR’s Aaron Couch and Borys Kit, “Sources say that following his exit, an agreement was reached between the two parties over the issue of tweeting about the show, something that DeMayo had continued to occasionally do. In light of the breeches, his credit for season two was removed. While no details of the cause of the termination or the internal reviews have surfaced, sources say it involved sexual misconduct.”
