“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” co-star Tenoch Huerta has dropped out of the upcoming Netflix film “Fiesta en la Madriguera,” saying Wednesday in a statement provided to TheWrap that “My focus now is simple: continue the process of restoring my reputation” following accusations of sexual assault earlier this month.
Huerta was accused of being a “sexual predator” by Mexican musician and activist María Elena Ríos. Huerta has denied those accusations, calling them “completely unsubstantiated.”
“Given the impact of the recent false statements by María Elena Ríos and the damage they have caused, I have no choice but to withdraw from participating in the film ‘Fiesta en la Madriguera,’ Huerta said in a statement to TheWrap. “It is with great sadness that I do this, but I cannot allow her actions to harm not only me, but also the work of dozens of talented and hard-working people involved in the project. My focus now is simple: continue the process of restoring my reputation.”
Ríos accused Huerta of sexual assault in response to a tweet from Poder Prieto, an anti-racism collective of actors and entertainment workers of which Huerta is a member. Ríos claimed the organization made her work for free, and protected Huerta.
“It’s very difficult to talk about the emotional abuse and the abuse of power of a sexual predator who is loved around the world for playing a character in a movie such as Tenoch Huerta,” she tweeted in Spanish.
The Netflix film, set to be directed by Manolo Caro and written by Nicolás Giacobone, will include a cast of Raúl Briones, Teresa Ruiz, Alfredo Gatica, Mercedes Hernández, Pierre Louis and Lizeth Selene.
Deadline first reported the news.
