The documentary Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! was set to be released in 2017, until Spurlock wrote a social media post saying that he had a history of sexual misconduct and referring to himself as "part of the problem", leading to a distribution drop and his resignation from the production company.[6] The film was instead distributed in 2019 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. In 2024, Spurlock died at age 53 due to complications related to cancer.[7]
Early life
Morgan Valentine Spurlock was born on November 7, 1970, in Parkersburg, West Virginia,[8] and was raised in Beckley, West Virginia. His parents, Ben and Phyllis Spurlock,[9] raised him as a Methodist.[10] Phyllis was an English teacher and guidance counselor while Ben owned an auto repair shop.[11] Spurlock said he was of Scots-Irish and English descent.[12] He would later state that he was sexually abused as a child.[3]
Spurlock was a playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000.[15] In 2004, Spurlock co-founded the production studio Warrior Poets which would be the production studio for the films he directed and produced for the rest of his career.[3]
Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me was released in the U.S. on May 7, 2004. He conceived the idea for the film when he was at his parents' house for Thanksgiving, and while watching TV saw a news story about a lawsuit brought against McDonald's by two teenage girls who blamed the fast food chain for their obesity.[7] The film was produced for $65,000 and made $22 million in return.[13]
The film depicts an experiment Spurlock conducted in 2003, in which he claimed he ate three McDonald's meals every day (and nothing else) for 30 days, although he later disclosed he also drank copious amounts of alcohol. The film's title derives from one of the rules of Spurlock's experiment: he would not refuse the "super-size" option whenever it was offered to him but would never ask for it himself. The result, according to Spurlock, was a diet with twice the calories recommended by the USDA. Further, Spurlock attempted to curtail his physical activity to better match the exercise habits of the average American; he previously walked about 3 miles (4.8 km) a day, whereas the average American walks 1.5 miles (2.4 km).[18]
Over the course of filming, Spurlock gained 25 pounds (11 kg), became quite puffy, and suffered liver dysfunction and depression by the end. His supervising physicians noted the effects caused by his high-calorie diet—once even comparing it to a case of severe binge alcoholism. Following Spurlock's December 2017 assertion that he had not been "sober for more than a week" in three decades, the claims of his liver dysfunction being caused by eating McDonald's food solely for 30 days have been called into question.[13][19] Spurlock also did not publicly release a diet log documenting his diet while filming the documentary.[10]
In each episode, a person (sometimes Spurlock himself) or a group of people spend 30 days immersing themselves in a mode of life markedly different from their norm (being in prison, a devout Christian living in a Muslim family, a homophobe staying with a homosexual person, etc.), while Spurlock discusses the relevant social issues involved. The series ran on FX between 2005 and 2008.[23] In the second-season finale, Spurlock spent 25 days locked in a Henrico County, Virginia (a county outside of Richmond), jail to experience life as an inmate.[24] The third season of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008.[25] The first episode of the third season, titled "Working in a Coal Mine", was filmed in Bolt, West Virginia, which is located roughly 18 miles (29 km) from the city of Beckley, West Virginia, where Spurlock was raised before leaving for New York.[26] In 2008, he signed a deal with Fox Television Studios.[27]
I Bet You Will
Spurlock also created I Bet You Will for MTV. I Bet You Will began as a popular Internet webcast of five-minute episodes featuring ordinary people doing stunts in exchange for money. Examples of the scenarios which transpired include eating a full jar of mayonnaise (US$235), eating a "worm burrito" (US$265), and taking shots of corn oil, Pepto-Bismol, lemon juice, hot sauce, cold chicken broth, and cod liver oil (US$450.00 for all nine shots). MTV later bought the show and aired it, which Spurlock hosted.[28]
In mid-2010, Spurlock worked with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles, and comic book creator Stan Lee to create the documentary Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, to cover the stories of convention fans.[38][39] Whedon, Lee, and Knowles served as executive producers. Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull, who independently financed the documentary, told Variety, "We look forward to capturing the spirit, energy and people that Comic-Con has infused into legions of fans, bringing these audiences and projects out of the halls and onto a world stage."[40]
Spurlock's documentary Mansome was announced on March 8, 2012, as a Spotlight selection for the Tribeca Film Festival. The film takes a comedic look at male identity as defined through men's grooming habits featuring celebrity and expert commentary.[41]
Spurlock helped distribute A Brony Tale, a documentary directed by Brent Hodge on the brony phenomenon and on the musician and voice acting career of Ashleigh Ball. The film was selected for theatrical distribution under the label Morgan Spurlock Presents. The film was released in theaters on July 8, 2014.[43]
While attending a screening of the movie Catfish, Spurlock approached the film's producers afterwards and called Catfish "the best fake documentary" he had ever seen.[45][46]
Other work
Morgan Spurlock with Highland Titles in Scotland during filming Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia
Spurlock's half-hour documentary series A Day in the Life was to debut on Hulu in mid-August 2011. It follows "incredibly focused" people such as Richard Branson and will.i.am for a full day. The series is exclusive to Hulu.[48]
In December 2017, Spurlock wrote a blog post admitting to what he described as a history of sexual misconduct.[51] In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Spurlock stated: "I've come to understand after months of these revelations, that I am not some innocent bystander, I am also a part of the problem."[6] In the post, he said that he committed sexual misconduct in his past, including being "unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend [he] ever had".[52] Spurlock recounts settling a sexual harassment allegation, brought by his assistant at his production company, Warrior Poets, for verbal harassment including yelling for her as "hot pants" or "sex pants" from across the office.[52]
In the same post, Spurlock also recounted that he had been accused of sexual assault while in college.[10] Spurlock wrote that while still "in college, a girl who I hooked up with on a one night stand accused me of rape. Not outright. There were no charges or investigations, but she wrote about the instance in a short story writing class and called me by name." He wrote: "This wasn't how I remembered it at all [...] She believed she was raped. That's why I'm part of the problem." Spurlock said both he and the woman had been heavily drinking the night of the incident, and that during sex she had begun crying, and they had stopped.[3][52]
After publishing his blog post, Spurlock stepped down from his position with Warrior Poets, the company he had co-founded in 2004.[53] The move ended his career as a documentary filmmaker.[10] Spurlock told the Associated Press in 2019: "For me, there was a moment of kind of realization—as somebody who is a truth-teller and somebody who has made it a point of trying to do what's right—of recognizing that I could do better in my own life. We should be able to admit we were wrong."[11] Additionally, he told Deadline: "Part of the reason I wrote that essay in the first place was to be on the right side of it. I'm hopeful that in time, with the work that I do and the changes that I continue to go through, that I can be there on the right side."[54]
In the blog post, Spurlock further disclosed that he had been the victim of sexual abuse as a boy and teenager, and that he had "consistently been drinking since the age of 13."[3]
Spurlock released a sequel film, Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, in 2017,[55] to be distributed by YouTube Red, but it was dropped following Spurlock's admission of sexual misconduct. Samuel Goldwyn Films instead distributed the film in September 2019.[56] In October 2022, The Washington Post reported that Spurlock had "suffered career death" as a result of his misconduct.[57]
Personal life
Spurlock's marriages to Priscilla Sommer, Alexandra Jamieson, and Sara Bernstein all ended in divorce.[19] He had two children.[10]
Spurlock was raised Methodist. He stated in an interview with TV Guide in 2014 that he was agnostic.[10][58]
^Gibb, Lindsay (March 2008). "The everyman Morgan Spurlock talks about the state of documentaries, not finding Osama bin Laden, and why listening to voices is a good thing". RealScreen: 58.
^Schuker, Lauren A.E. (February 2, 2008). "Hit List: Morgan Spurlock". No. Weekend Journal. Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
^Logan, Michael (April 11, 2014). "Morgan Spurlock is CNN's Inside Man, Tracking Kardashians, UFOs and More". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016. Spurlock: I was raised Methodist but as I grew up and traveled the world and met more and more people from various religions, I have become much more of an agnostic.
^T. H. R. Staff (September 18, 2012). "Knuckleball!: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
