As many in the fandom have heard over the past week, it was brought to the media's attention that Steven Wilder Striegel, a friend of Shane Black's for 14 years who was cast in The Predator, had pleaded guilty in 2010 to trying to lure a 14-year-old girl into an online sexual relationship. Prior to filming Fox was unaware that Striegel was a registered sex offender but after this information was brought to their attention the studio acted quickly to cut all of Striegel's scenes from the movie.
Unfortunately however, director Shane Black avoided his Red Carpet appearance and Q&A session at the Toronto International Film Festival the other night for The Predator's premiere to avoid the controversy despite being in attendance.
The L.A. Times managed to catch up with Black to discuss the situation:
Black had defended casting Striegel in an initial statement to The Times, saying, “I personally chose to help a friend.” However, he later issued an apology, just hours ahead of the film’s premiere: "I believe strongly in giving people second chances," he said, "but sometimes you discover that chance is not as warranted as you may have hoped."
It's uncertain how this development will affect The Predator's performance when it debuts to the public on September 14th.
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