Morgan Spurlock Settles Suit Over Unproduced TNT Docuseries, Will Pay Turner Nets $1.18M
Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock Oscar- and Emmy-nominated documentarian Morgan Spurlock has ..
Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
Oscar- and Emmy-nominated documentarian Morgan Spurlock has agreed to pay more than $1.17 million to Turner Entertainment Networks to settle a lawsuit over a female-focused docuseries he ended up not making. The project was shelved after he posted a confessional essay as the #MeToo movement was gaining strength.
The settlement (read it here) ends Turners lawsuit over the planned TNT docuseries Who Rules the World, whose logline says was to be about the most divisive and complicated issues facing women today, from the policing of their bodies and judgments of their family planning choices to the micro-aggressions they face in the media, the workplace and everyday life.
Production on the project was suspended a year ago after its producers severed ties with Spurlock. That move came days after the Super Size Me filmmaker posted a lengthy manifesto in which he admitted to being “part of the problem” as sexual harassment allegations were exploding all over Hollywood. In his post Spurlock gave his thoughts on sexual harassment and how heroes had fallen for their indiscretions, asking, “When will they come for me?”
Fallout was swift and merciless as YouTube pulled out of funding Spurlocks Super Size Me 2 and Sundance dropped the docu sequel from its 2018 lineup. Showtime then dropped his Park City-bound docuseries The Trade, which focused on the opioid crisis. Spurlock that week also stepped down from his production company Warrior Poets, which also was defendant in the lawsuit Turner filed in late March, when the project still was in its early stages.
