Shortly before X-Men ’97 debuted to those with a Disney+ subscription back in March, it was announced that showrunner Beau DeMayo had been fired from the critically-acclaimed Marvel series. In the months to follow, DeMayo frequently posted on social media about his work on the X-Men: The Animated Series follow-up, including opening up about the devastating events in “Remember It,” and he also clarified that he wrote “a lot” of Season 2, but for obvious reasons would not be “heavily involved or leading” production and other aspects of the creative process. However, the circumstances that led to DeMayo’s dismissal from X-Men ’97 have largely been shrouded in mystery.
That’s starting to change, though, because several posts DeMayo shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) has resulted in the curtain not only being pulled back on what allegedly led to him being let go from the Emmy-nominated X-Men ’97, but also information being reported concerning the aftermath of that dismissal. Here’s everything that we know about these latest developments so far.
Beau DeMayo Shares Fan Art That Allegedly Got Him In Trouble
This all started when Beau DeMayo went on X the evening of Thursday, August 16 to show off some fan art he posted on Instagram in June for Gay Pride that depicted him as Cyclops, though largely unclothed, with only select aspects of Scott Summers’ uniform still on him. DeMayo said that he was “grateful” to have worked on X-Men ’97 and collaborate with “some amazingly talented folks.” Creating the series was a “dream come true” for him and he thanked the fans for their support. Then he said this in his next post:
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.
DeMayo (who previously co-wrote an episode of Moon Knight and also worked on a draft of the upcoming Marvel movie Blade) concluded by saying in a third post that he’ll “have more to say soon but must take a step back from social media to find a safer space” for him to be “out, proud, and nerdy.”
Disney Releases Statement About “Egregious” Findings
A few hours after Beau DeMayo shared those posts on X, THR received an official statement from Marvel Studios that the writer/executive producer’s behavior was the reason he was fired from X-Men ’97 and lost his Season 2 credits. In the company’s words:
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.
Sources who spoke with THR further claimed that after DeMayo left X-Men ’97, an “an agreement was reached between the two parties over the issue of tweeting about the show,” which, as mentioned earlier, the former showrunner did quite a bit during X-Men ’97 Season 1’s run. As a result, his Season 2 credit was removed, and sources also mentioned that the reason DeMayo was dismissed from what may end up being one of the best animated TV shows of all time involved “sexual misconduct.” In response to Marvel’s statement, DeMay posted on X:
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.
That “Disney Plus” disaster Beau DeMayo’s referring to concern a $50,000 wrongful death suit filed against Disney, with Jeffrey J. Piccolo having sued Disney Parks and Resorts back in February because his wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, died after eating food containing allergens at a Walt Disney World restaurant. As reported by NBC News, the Mouse House is claiming that when Piccolo signed up for a free Disney+ trial in 2019, he agreed to the platform’s terms of service, which includes him not being able to take legal action against Disney.
Beau DeMayo Is Reported To Have Engaged In Sexual Misconduct
The next morning, Jeff Sneider from The InSneider posted a story (via SuperheroHype) alleging that Marvel fired Beau DeMayo because he shared “photos of himself in various states of undress” with several of X-Men 97’s young staff members that showed him “wearing superhero costumes and striking sexually suggestive ‘hero’ poses that could be used as ‘inspiration’ for the show.” Additionally, DeMayo allegedly groped an assistant and was physically and verbally abusive to staff members.
Sneider also wrote that in light of all this and the recent turn of events, Marvel has taken DeMayo’s executive producing credit of X-Men ’97 Season 2. While Marvel can’t take away his writing credits, supposedly the X-Men ’97 team is rewriting “most” of the next batch of episodes, and that’s being overseen by Matthew Chauncey, who was hired to write Season 3. To be clear, none of the information in this section has been officially corroborated yet.
Beau DeMayo’s Lawyer Accuses Disney Of “Gaslighting” His Client
The latest update on this story comes from Bryan Freedman, the attorney who’s representing Beau DeMayo. Freedman did not address the allegations that have been directed at his client, but he did describe Disney’s actions as “illegal” in a statement to Deadline, saying:
Having much experience with Disney, the playbook is always the same. Family friendly on the outside, but secretly attempting to plant illegal unconscionable items in contracts that silence the truth and stop the employee/customer from asserting basic constitutional rights.
This isn’t the first time that Freedman has gone up against Disney, as he previously sued the company on behalf of former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele. The attorney continued to say about his case for DeMayo:
As we will explain through detailed examples which we will roll out in detail one by one, Disney’s model is very clear and a repetitive illegal pattern. 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.
Bryan Freedman capped off his statement by saying that Beau DeMayo “wants nothing from Marvel/Disney except the truth,” and that “he will bravely tell the truth. So will I. Stand by.”
And that’s where we leave things off, although count on CinemaBlend sharing more updates concerning Beau DeMayo’s feud with Marvel as they come in. In the meantime, learn what other upcoming Marvel TV shows are in the works for Disney+ alongside X-Men ’97 Season 2 and 3, or find some non-Marvel programming to watch by reading over the 2024 TV schedule.
