This week, X-Men 97 creator Beau De Mayo lamented that he wasn’t invited to the Emmys by Disney despite his show being nominated there. Now, he and Disney are offering different accounts of why he was fired and had his credits stripped for season 2.
Disney issued the following statement about De Mayo’s firing, offering few specific details, but implying it was for something significant regarding his behavior:
“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation. Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
Both THR and Variety are separately reporting it had something to do with sexual misconduct, and he also violated his termination agreement which led to his credits being stripped out of season 2 as well. De Mayo could not be reached for comment, and said he was taking a break from social media.
But before he left, he offered a much different account, claiming it was because of a Twitter post he made of art depicting himself as a speedo-wearing Cyclops that he posted for Pride month that got him stripped of his season 2 credit:
“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. Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while on working on #XMen97 and #Blade.
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, he did not directly address the actual reason for his firing, only the art piece leading to his credits being stripped for season 2 and a “troubling pattern” while working for Marvel. He then implied more would surface later:
“The truth will be revealed. After their Disney Plus disaster, Marvel wants to mislead with alleged contract breaches over tweets. It’s tragic it’s come to this but unsurprising. Stay tuned.”
This is their Disney-Marvel’s usual playbook. Legal letters as well as other items to prove their long-standing pattern to follow . It’s about finding a safe outlet. Thanks for your faith and patience.”
The abrupt, total nature of De Mayo’s firing right before the show premiered, plus being kicked from continuing to work on season 2 has always implied something significant happened here, and that’s now what Disney is indicating. A long-running theory that it had with De Mayo having an also non-explicit OnlyFans does not seem to be part of Disney’s explanation.
So, you have two statements that could not be more different. De Mayo does not offer a clear explanation for his firing, only saying he lost credits because of an art post. Disney claims that it was an internal investigation that led to “egregious” finding that led to his sudden dismissal. We will indeed see more substance will come out about this on either side, but this is the most information we’ve had to date.
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