Andy Signore, creator of Screen Junkies and the “Honest Trailers” series, has been fired effective immediately, Defy Media announced Sunday evening. Signore has been accused by several women of sexual harassment, and at least one said he tried to sexually assault her.
Signore’s termination was announced a few hours after the Weinstein Company board ousted Harvey Weinstein for sexual misconduct that reportedly spanned decades. On Friday, one of Signore’s accusers said she came forward with her account of his sexual harassment because several women had publicly detailed Weinstein’s history of sexual harassment.
Defy Media, the company that owns Screen Junkies, said the “scope and magnitude of [Signore’s] inappropriate actions became apparent” with new information that came to light on Friday. Signore could not be reached for comment.
Defy suspended Signore last Friday pending its investigation into the allegations.
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At least five women shared accounts on social media of Signore’s sexually inappropriate acts, in some cases including screenshots of text messages from him. “There is simply no justification for this egregious and intolerable behavior,” Defy Media said in the statement.
One woman, April Dawn, alleged that Signore tried to sexually assault her “on multiple occasions” and that he had threatened to fire her boyfriend, Screen Junkies employee Josh Tapia, if she went public. According to Dawn, she informed Defy Media’s human-resources department about Signore’s behavior two months ago but “all they’ve done is protect him.”
Dawn said in a Tweet on Sunday that following her original post, about 20 women had contacted her to share stories about Signore’s sexual harassing them.
Emma Bowers, who had interned for Signore, said Signore once invited her to watch him masturbate, and another woman, Devin Murphy, wrote that after she began interacting as a fan with Signore, he made sexual overtures to her and tried to arrange numerous meetings with her over the last two years.
Signore founded entertainment fan site Screen Junkies and in 2012 launched the popular “Honest Trailers” series — parodying films with voiceover narrations on their trailers — while working at Break Media. The company merged with Alloy Digital in 2013 to form Defy Media.
Here is Defy Media’s full statement:
Defy Media and Screen Junkies have today terminated Andy Signore’s employment, effective immediately. There is simply no justification for this egregious and intolerable behavior.
In August, Defy’s HR team was made aware of allegations made against Andy, at which time an investigation was launched. On Friday, new information became available and the scope and magnitude of his inappropriate actions became apparent. We are acting swiftly to address the concerns of the people affected, and that going forward, our community is free of harassment or discrimination of any kind.
Our Screen Junkies colleagues and freelancers are a team of remarkable creators serving loyal fans and we will support and protect them. If anyone else is aware of behavior of this type, we would encourage them to bring it to our attention.
