Scene Pulled From ‘The Predator’ After Studio Learns Actor Is Sex Offender

Twentieth Century Fox pulled a scene from its forthcoming movie “The Predator” after learning that Steven Wilder Striegel, an actor with a minor role in the picture, is a registered sex offender, the movie studio said Thursday.

Striegel, 47, had been featured in one scene in the movie, which was set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday and play in theaters nationwide next Thursday. The studio said in a statement that it had not been aware of Striegel’s background when he was hired.

In August, “when the studio learned the details, his one scene in the film was removed within 24 hours,” according to the statement. “We were not aware of his background during the casting process due to legal limitations that impede studios from running background checks on actors.”

Striegel’s status as a sex offender came up after actress Olivia Munn, who was also in the scene featuring Striegel, learned of it and told the company on Aug. 15, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The newspaper initially reported the decision by the company, and reported that Shane Black, director of the movie and a longtime friend of Striegel, had been aware of his status as a sex offender.

Striegel has had other roles directed by Black, including in “Iron Man 3” and “The Nice Guys.”

Black, Striegel and Munn could not be reached for comment Thursday.

According to Connecticut’s sex offender registry, Striegel was 38 when he “engaged in an internet relationship” with a 14-year-old. An arrest warrant affidavit from 2009 included correspondence between Striegel, who had been residing in California, and the girl, who lived in Connecticut.

The emails and messages were found by her father, who reported them to the authorities. Striegel pleaded guilty to two felony counts: risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer, according to court records. He served six months in jail.

Striegel had asked the girl to keep the nature of their relationship a secret, according to the affidavit. He described in disturbing detail his sexual fantasies, and complimented the girl, saying she was “hot, sexy, beautiful, and a few things I won’t get into!!”

The teenager also told authorities that she and Striegel had had physical contact, according to the affidavit. Striegel told the Los Angeles Times that those claims were “groundless.”

“This was an enormously unfortunate chapter in my life, and one that I took, and continue to take, personal responsibility for,” Striegel told the Los Angeles Times.

In an initial statement to the Los Angeles Times, Black explained his decision to give Striegel a role in “The Predator” by saying that he “chose to help a friend” and that he believed Striegel was “caught up in a bad situation versus something lecherous.”

By Thursday afternoon, Black released another statement after reading the article, saying he had been “misled by a friend I really wanted to believe was telling me the truth when he described the circumstances of his conviction.”

He added that he was “deeply disappointed” in himself and apologized to the people he “let down by having Steve around them without giving them a voice in the decision.”

On Thursday, Munn tweeted about the article, saying that Black “made a ‘personal choice’ to continually work with a convicted sex offender, but I didn’t have a choice. That decision was made for me. And that’s not okay.”

Munn is one of six women who accused Brett Ratner, a top producer and director, of sexual harassment or assault in November.

In another tweet Thursday, she referenced the #MeToo movement and how abusers have been called out by it.

“But they’re not the only ones in the wrong,” she said. “Those who know about abuse and not only do nothing but continue to put abusers in positions of power are complicit.”