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Tenoch Huerta, the groundbreaking ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ actor, has quit a Netflix film project days after he was publicly accused of sexual assault.
“Given the impact of María Elena Ríos’ recent false statements and the damage they have caused, I have no choice but to withdraw from participating in the film ‘Fiesta en la madriguera,'” he told an interviewer this week statement outlets released to the media. “It is with great sadness that I do this, but I cannot allow their actions to harm not only me, but the work of dozens of talented and hard-working people involved in the project. My focus now is quite simple: to continue the process of restoring my reputation.”
Ríos, a saxophonist and activist working to end violence against women in Mexico, could not immediately be reached for comment. She released a series of tweets on June 10 calling Huerta a “sexual predator” and accusing him of assault, which was initially reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Huerta denied the allegations and said he had been in a consensual relationship with Ríos a few months prior to their tweets, the Times reported.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The streaming giant announced “Fiesta en la madriguera” in late May, with Huerta set to star in the Mexican-made film about a boy and his father trying to get a Namibian pygmy hippo.
Mexican-born Huerta rose to international fame with roles in projects such as Mozart in the Jungle and Narcos: Mexico before breaking into the role of Namor in the Black Panther sequel last year. His performances and advocacy for racial equality in the entertainment industry have earned him rave reviews, including a spot on the Associated Press’s list of breakthrough entertainers.
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