The only predators Olivia Munn wanted to work with on “Predator” were the cinematic extraterrestrial hunters.
In August, when the actress found out that she shared a scene with a registered sex offender in “Predator,” she flagged 20th Century Fox and got the scene cut entirely, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Steven Wilder Striegel, a close friend of “Predator” director Shane Black, was featured in a brief scene with Munn, 38, in the film. Munn says she learned that Striegel, 47, pleaded guilty in 2010 to felony risk of injury to a child and felony enticing a minor by computer after attempting to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual relationship.
He served six months behind bars.
“[I found it] both surprising and unsettling that Shane Black, our director, did not share this information to the cast, crew or Fox Studios prior to, during, or after production,” Munn told the Los Angeles Times in a statement on Thursday. “However, I am relieved that when Fox finally did receive the information, the studio took appropriate action by deleting the scene featuring Wilder prior to release of the film.”
The studio said in a statement, “Our studio was not aware of Mr. Striegel’s background when he was hired. We were not aware of his background during the casting process due to legal limitations that impede studios from running background checks on actors.”
Since Striegel’s release from prison, he’s appeared in Black’s films “Iron Man 3” and “The Nice Guys.”
Black told the Times of hiring his pal, “I personally chose to help a friend. I can understand others might disapprove, as his conviction was on a sensitive charge and not to be taken lightly.”
Black added that he believes Striegel was “caught up in a bad situation versus something lecherous” in regards to the crime.
Striegel told the Times that the victim in his case was a “distant relative” who vented to him about “a multitude of problems she was facing, including being a truant, being pressured to do drugs and alcohol, and that she had started having sex, as well as many other things.” He claimed that he was trying to boost her self-esteem when he “made the very bad judgment call of telling her in these emails that she was attractive and sexy and not a failure, etc.”
However, electronic communications between Striegel and the victim indicate that he may have had other intentions than raising her confidence.
In one missive obtained by the Times, he wrote that there was no one he’d rather have sex with more than the 14-year-old in question, even though he admitted it was wrong.
“I will be VERY honest: There’s no question that it’s you. None,” he wrote. “Hope that doesn’t totally freak you out, and just because it’s what I want, and what you want, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.”
In other messages, he describes his sexual preferences in explicit detail and beseeches the girl not to tell anyone about their relationship.
An arrest affidavit from March 2009, which was obtained by the LA Times, claims that Striegel also physically touched the teen on more than one occasion, an allegation Striegel denies, telling the Times, “Nothing supported such a claim, and no charges in that regard were even filed. The only thing I was ever charged with were words in an email.”
“This was an enormously unfortunate chapter in my life, and one that I took, and continue to take, personal responsibility for,” he continued. “If I had even an inkling that my involvement with ‘The Predator’ would be a point of difficulty for Shane Black, or cast any kind of shadow over a movie that I wish only great success for, I would, of course, never have been involved in any capacity.”