X-Men ’97 Creator’s Lawyer Issues Statement Over Disney Firing

The lawyer for former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo has issued a statement after Disney removed his credits from Season 2. DeMayo was fired from X-Men ’97 shortly before the animated series premiered on Disney+, with no explanation given for the removal. DeMayo has mostly remained silent regarding the whole issue, aside from the random post on social media to comment on various X-Men ’97 episodes and the overall positive reception from fans. However, Thursday night DeMayo alleged that he was stripped of his X-Men ’97 Season 2 credits after sharing fan art of himself as a shirtless Cyclops during Gay Pride Month in June. Disney responded by releasing a statement claiming DeMayo was “terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation.” Beau DeMayo’s lawyer has released a statement as well to refute the misconduct allegations against their client. 

“Having much experience with Disney, the playbook is always the same,” attorney Bryan Freedman of Freedman Taitelman + Cooley said in a statement to Variety. “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.”  

“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” a Marvel spokesperson said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”

You can read the full statement by Beau DeMayo’s attorney below:

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. 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. The problem for Disney is that when they go up against someone who has concrete evidence of this happening over 100 times, many of which have led to them settling hundreds of cases if not thousands to try and continue to control critics, employees and even lawyers who sue them. The problem for them is that I have the evidence and clients willing to be truthful and they know it. These are actually facts not argument or conjecture. Over the next few months, with the brave help of those who have been illegally silenced, retaliated for simply telling the truth and then destroyed for it, one by one this bullying and illegal conduct will be exposed to the government. Beau DeMayo wants nothing from Marvel/Disney except the truth. He will bravely tell the truth. So will I. Stand by.