Marvel says it fired “X-Men '97” creator for 'egregious' misconduct after he claims it had issue with gay fan art

Beau DeMayo said Disney stripped him of season 2 credits over a Gay Pride fan-art post, but a source says he was investigated for sexual misconduct.

Beau DeMayo, the original showrunner behind X-Men '97, alleges that Disney did more than just fire him a week before the series' March premiere, but Marvel has a different story.

DeMayo wrote in an X post on Thursday evening that while he's "so grateful to have worked on #XMen97," it's now "pressing for me to speak up in the wake of leaving the show."

He then wrote, "On June 13, #Marvel sent a letter notifying me that they’d stripped my season 2 credits" due to X-Men fan art he "posted on Instagram for Gay Pride in June."

The June 4 post featured an illustration of the X-Men character Cyclops shirtless, which DeMayo accompanied with a caption tagging and praising the creator, and adding "Happy Pride!"

In a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly, a Marvel Studios spokesperson says, "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."

Additionally, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells EW that the investigation involved sexual misconduct. Following his firing, DeMayo breached the termination agreement multiple times, the source says, which led to his removal from the credits for season 2.

The back-and-forth between DeMayo and Marvel continued, with DeMayo later tweeting a response to the studio's statement, writing, "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 [sic] Disney-Marvel’s usual playbook. Legal letters as well as other items to prove their longstanding pattern to follow," DeMayo added in a separate tweet. "It’s about finding a safe outlet. Thanks for your faith and patience."

A sequel to the beloved ’90s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series was first announced in November 2021. It is the first X-Men title produced by Marvel Studios, and it was lauded for retaining the series' distinct visual style and bringing back original voice actors like Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, and Alison Sealy-Smith. The White Lotus' Theo James was also cast in a surprise "fan-favorite" role that turned out to be the supervillain Bastion.

DeMayo was attached to the project from the start, and told EW a month before the March 2024 premiere that he was already at work on season 2. Then, a week before the series' first episode was released on Disney+, the company fired DeMayo from the project.

Related: Theo James' surprise X-Men '97 character revealed

In an interview the same week with EW, Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Studios, sketched out the basic facts of the shocking personnel change. When asked if he would use the word "fire" to characterize DeMayo's exit, he said, "I don't. 'We parted ways' is the best I could probably say."

Winderbaum praised DeMayo's contributions to the series, saying, "Beau had real respect and passion for these characters and wrote what I think are excellent scripts that really the rest of the team were able to draw inspiration from [to] build this amazing show that's on screen."

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DeMayo broke his silence on social media in April, after the airing of X-Men '97's fifth episode. "Lotta questions and so I'll momentarily break silence to answer," he wrote. "Episode 5 was the centerpiece of my pitch to Marvel in November 2020. The idea being to have the X-Men mirror the journey that any of us who grew up on the original show have experienced since being kids in the '90s."

He went on to describe his attempt to depict a shift from a "simple" world where "questions about identity and social justice had relatively clear-cut answers" to a vision of the show in which "things weren't so safe anymore."

Related: The X-Men are the future of the MCU, so why are they burning through so much plot?

Neither party has revealed the specific reason why DeMayo was removed as the series' showrunner. DeMayo's Thursday post only addressed Disney allegedly stripping him of his credit for the series' upcoming second season.

DeMayo concluded his thread by writing, "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."

This article has been updated with a statement from Marvel and additional reporting.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.