On October 4th, the leisure trade was shocked by a lawsuit in opposition to Bryan Fuller, an American writer and producer who has worked on various television series, including Hannibal, Pushing Daisies and American Gods. The lawsuit, filed by Sam Wineman, made accusations of sexual misconduct, assault and creating a toxic, hostile workplace. However, since the lawsuit’s filing, evidence that may exonerate Fuller has come to light.
The Connection Between Bryan Fuller and Sam Wineman
Fuller and Wineman began to work together on the Shudder docuseries “Queer for Fear.” The two were hired as project directors and began working together in 2020 until Wineman’s last day in August 2021.
Many claim that Wineman initially had a different idea for the project. Others involved with the project claim that he wanted to create a feature film called “Spectrum of Fear,” which dived into his relationship with movies and how they shaped his sexual identity. However, AMC wanted a more broad queer cinema docuseries and hired Fuller as an executive producer. While it appears that Wineman initially wanted Fuller on board, witnesses say he did not like that Fuller had had the final say on creative decisions.
The Accusations Against Bryan Fuller
The lawsuit accuses Bryan Fuller of sexual harassment, sexual assault, a hostile work environment and retaliation spanning from 2020 to 2022. He claims that Fuller assaulted him several times during the production of “Queer for Fear.” Wineman also claims that the producers knew of Fuller’s acts and refused to take immediate corrective action. Some incidents that the lawsuit describes include:
• Relentless verbal harassment and bullying
• Sabotaging shots and ignoring Wineman
• Sexual assault in the guise of a back-cracking incident
• Quid pro quo sexual harassment
In the lawsuit, he also states that Fuller unfairly terminated him and diminished his credits as retaliation.
If this does turn out to be a smear campaign that’s so awful, not just for Bryan Fuller but for other victims of this kind of workplace abuse who are being truthful because scenarios of people lying will be used against them. https://t.co/rQZtHUsUi4
— sasspiria.bsky.social (@Sasspiria) November 3, 2023
The Proof Mounting Towards Sam Wineman
Thus far, there have been 14 individuals concerned within the sequence which have spoken out in opposition to Wineman’s claims. Even Meg Chase, a member of Sam’s interior circle and assistant on the challenge, describes herself as a fixture at his aspect who by no means witnessed a poisonous office, or any occasions Wineman says occurred.
Likewise, different manufacturing group members insisted that Bryan Fuller was skilled and that the accusations got here out of the blue. Whereas Wineman and Fuller have been at odds as a consequence of their inventive imaginative and prescient, there was no proof of misconduct.
As for the claims of retaliation, Shudder government Nick Lazo made the ultimate resolution to fireside Wineman. Those that delivered the information of his firing from the challenge said that it had nothing to do with Fuller and all the things to do with Wineman’s efficiency. One director, Tara Anaise, claims that Wineman’s cuts have been unusable. He allegedly couldn’t deal with the capability of the challenge or the time constraints.
Withholding Judgement Towards Bryan Fuller
In response to those that labored on “Queer for Worry,” Sam Wineman’s accusations in opposition to Bryan Fuller are retaliatory. All through the #MeToo motion, there has hardly ever been an instance of so many individuals coming to the protection of the accused. Nevertheless, given the quantity of pushback Wineman has obtained for his accusations, it’s important to take heed to the witnesses and accounts from set earlier than passing judgment on Bryan Fuller.