“The Predator” star Boyd Holbrook spoke out on Monday about the deleted scene from the upcoming film involving co-star Olivia Munn and registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel, voicing his support for the actress.
The new statement comes after a weekend in which Munn spoke with reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival about her discovery of Striegel’s past after shooting the scene with him, one which director Shane Black offered to Striegel as a personal friend without telling the cast about his sex offender status.
“I want to start by apologizing for this statement coming late in the current conversation,” read Holbrook’s statement. “I do not take any of what has gone on lightly, and I want to speak from the most honest and genuine place possible. I have stated before, and I will state it again, I am proud of Olivia for the way that she handled a difficult and alarming situation, and I am grateful that Fox took the information seriously and took action swiftly.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Munn said that she was surprised that her fellow castmates had not made statements about the incident, and that the co-stars that joined her for the film’s premiere in Toronto had left her alone to discuss the topic. Holbrook also confirmed Munn’s account of an interview she did for the film which Holbrook pulled out of.
“It is true that I pulled out of a small amount of press on Saturday, as this type of social commentary is new to me and given the nature of the originating crime, I felt further discussion could cause unwanted trauma and pain, neither of which I wanted to incite to the anonymous young woman,” Holbook said.
“I now realize that my understanding of the situation was not the full picture and the last thing I want is for Olivia to ever feel abandoned or alone. We are in the midst of a very crucial and important time and it is imperative that we keep listening,” the actor added.
Holbrook is the second “Predator” co-star who has voiced support for Munn, though the first who joined Munn at the Toronto premiere. Sterling K. Brown, who is not at TIFF, put out his own statement of support for Munn this past Saturday, saying that he hoped the actress doesn’t “feel quite so alone” and that she “did the right thing.”
But Munn says that she hasn’t heard from Black regarding his decision to give Striegel the cameo since reporting her findings to Fox last month.
“Right now the reality is that there will be people who wear Time’s Up pins and say they support Time’s Up, [but] there will be people in Time’s Up who aren’t really down with the cause,” she said.