Bryan Fuller
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Producer and showrunner Bryan Fuller, known for the films “Hannibal” and “American Gods,” has been sued for alleged sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit that accuses AMC Networks, Shudder and Steakhaus Productions on the set of “Queer for Fear” of having ignored and encouraged a hostile work environment.
Series producer Samuel Wineman filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday against the producers of the Shudder original, claiming they were aware of “Fuller’s actions and his propensity to commit discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault and retaliation.” but “failed”. to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.”
An AMC spokesman said the company is reviewing the complaint. Fuller, Shudder and Steakhaus Productions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Wineman produced Queer for Fear, a documentary about the relationship between queer audiences and horror. He claims he was terminated early by Fuller, who executive produced the title and allegedly reduced Wineman’s credits on the show “as a final act of retaliation,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit alleges that Fuller sexually assaulted Wineman on “multiple occasions” in 2021 during production of the series. Under the guise of cracking Wineman’s back, Fuller “pressed his penis against Plaintiff’s buttocks” and held it there so “Plaintiff could feel it through the fabric” of his pants, the lawsuit says.
Wineman also says that Fuller’s “everything was permeated by a preoccupation with masturbation.” The complaint alleges that Fuller “frequently brought up his penis,” whether through “reading material that gave him erections,” actors he “masturbated to so much,” or “power dynamics between adults and children in… Stories that made him jerk off to him.” .’”
The alleged hostile work environment extended to “relentless verbal harassment and occasional bullying,” the lawsuit says. Wineman claims Fuller often insulted him until he cried and retaliated against him by sabotaging gunfire, harassing interviewees and ignoring him for weeks. The lawsuit goes on to say that Fuller “made discriminatory comments directed at groups that included the crew and respondents, including plaintiff, often expressing hatred of all gay men.”
The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment, retaliation, harassment and hostile work environment, and negligent hiring, among other things.