20th Century Fox Deletes The Predator Scene Featuring Registered Sex Offender

There’s helping out a friend, there’s forgiving a man who’s served his time, and then there’s describing the crimes for which that time was served—risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer, both felonies—as the product of someone who was “caught up in a bad situation versus [doing] something lecherous.” Shane Black, who wrote the original Lethal Weapon and wrote/directed Iron Man 3, did all three of those things when he cast his friend Steven Wilder Striegel in a small role in his upcoming movie The Predator, and then explained this decision to press. Striegel was arrested in 2009 and pleaded guilty to the two felonies mentioned above—risk of injury to a child and enticing a minor by computer, both felonies—for which he served six months in prison.

The Los Angeles Times’ Amy Kaufman reports that The Predator star Olivia Munn discovered the information about Striegel’s convictions. In the movie, she shares a scene with Striegel. She contacted 20th Century Fox, the studio releasing The Predator, which ordered the excision of said scene. In a statement, a 20th Century Fox spokesperson said of Striegel: “We were not aware of his background during the casting process due to legal limitations that impede studios from running background checks on actors.”

Black told the Times in a written statement, “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.” Striegel told the Times he’s known Black for 14 years.

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