Olivia Munn has insisted she did the right thing voicing her concerns about an actor cast in movie The Predator.
The X-Men: Apocalypse star went public with her concerns about the ill-advised casting of Steven Wilder Striegel, who served time behind bars for trying to coax a 14-year-old relative into a sexual relationship back in 2010, last year (18).
Striegel had landed a role in The Predator thanks to his old friend, the movie’s director Shane Black. After learning about his past, Munn brought the information to Twentieth Century Fox studio bosses’ attention.
They agreed to cut his scene with her from the finished film, and the 38-year-old faced a huge backlash for speaking out about Striegel’s background.
However, Munn still insists that she did the right thing, as in the wake of the scandal, Striegel’s victim, now 24, came forward.
In an unexpected statement to the Los Angeles Times, Paige Carnes expressed gratitude to Munn, and said she was “empowered” by the actress’ support.
“She was somewhere in the world seeing how all this went down, I didn’t know who she was,” Olivia explained. “She put out a statement and that was so surprising and amazing for me to see. What she said in this very eloquent statement; she had been seeing all this support for me and that personally felt supportive for her too.”
And despite being shunned by her castmates while doing press for The Predator, it was the support she received on social media that made her realise “that even if Hollywood was going to kick me out, that people saw that I did the right thing”.
“Seeing how strong she (Paige) is and how much the world made her feel that she mattered; that’s what this is all about,” she added.
