honest-trailers-creator-andy-signore-accused-sexual-abuse-1046574
Andy Signore, the creator of popular YouTube series
Honest Trailers, is being accused of sexual abuse.
Two accusers, one who says she was a former intern for Signore, have posted publicly on social media Friday that Signore used his position to prey on women.
Emma Bower wrote in a Twitter
post that she chose to speak up now, in the wake of
an investigation from
The New York Times accusing producer and film studio executive Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse with actresses and employees. Weinstein issued an apology after the story broke and said he was taking a leave of absence.
Bower said when she worked as an intern for Signore, he made inappropriate comments about masturbating to photos of her, and then asked her to come over so he could do that in person. She said he tried to play it off as a joke.
Another woman, April Dawn, was a fan of the Screen Junkies show who met Signore at Chicago Comic Con in 2015. Screen Junkies flew her out to Los Angeles to appear on its
Movie Fights YouTube series a few months later.
Dawn
wrote that Signore tried to sexually assault her on multiple occasions. She claimed that she and two other women went to the company's HR department, but her complaints of alleged attempted sexual assault were not taken seriously.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to a friend of Dawn's, who was aware of the HR meeting at the time and details of her accusations.
Defy Media, which owns the Screen Junkies channel Signore works for, issued a statement saying it has been investigating the accusations. Signore did not respond for comment to a direct message.
"We at Defy Media have no tolerance for harassment or retaliation of any kind," the company said in a statement. "We have been conducting a thorough investigation into allegations made against Andy Signore and are preparing to respond to those allegations and take appropriate action."
Defy's statement added: "Given the additional statements that were made today, we feel it is necessary to suspend Andy’s employment while we continue our investigation. We will take all necessary action once the investigation is fully complete."
In Dawn's Twitter statement, she said that Signore threatened that if she spoke out about what had happened he would fire Dawn's boyfriend, a video engineer who goes by the name JTE and appeared on Screen Junkies video.
Other women have shared
screengrabs of suggestive messages they say came from Signore.
Signore first gained prominence online as the creator of
Honest Trailers, a series that skewers films ranging from
Ghostbusters to
Blade Runner.
Since launching in 2012,
Honest Trailers has amassed more than 157 million views and has enlisted stars such as Ryan Reynolds and Michael Bolton to participate and became so influential that
Captain America: Winter Soldier directors the Russo Bros. said they imagined what the
Honest Trailer of their movie would say as they were working on it. In 2016 and 2017 it was nominated for primetime Emmy Awards in the outstanding shortform variety series category.
Screen Junkies, the YouTube channel that houses the series and of which Signore became the public face, also has had luck with star-studded stunts, such as Dwayne Johnson's officiating a surprise wedding for Nick Mundy, one of Screen Junkies' then contributors. Screen Junkies, which is owned by Defy Media, expanded in 2015 by launching a subscription service and a
slew of new shows, including a scripted comedy series.
Some prominent associates of Signore's have begun speaking out. Roth Cornet, who appears onscreen with Signore as editor in chief of Screen Junkies News,
wrote on Twitter: "I am truly, so profoundly heartbroken, shocked and sad today." Dan Merle, a producer at Screen Junkies wrote on
Twitter, "I'm numb. I don't know what to do. Questioning everything I thought I knew. To those that came forward - I hear you and I believe you."
The accusations against Signore come as women have come forward saying with stories of harassment from others in the film fan community.
Ain't It Cool News Founder Harry Knowles
took a leave of absence last month after multiple women went public with stories of sexual assault, while Devin Faraci left
birth.movies.death as editor in chief last October after
allegations of sexual assault. In Los Angeles, the independent film venue Cinefamily suspended its activities in August after executives resigned following
sexual abuse allegations.
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