The creator of popular TV and film criticism channel Screen Junkies, home to the Honest Trailers series, has been accused of sexual harassment and assault.
At least two women have publicly accused Andy Signore of inappropriate behavior while they were employed in some capacity at the company. One of the women said she was not taken seriously by HR after she and two other women came forward. The second said Signore harassed her while she was working an unpaid intern position.
https://twitter.com/april13dawn/status/916321623279493120
Anyway, here’s the whole story about how the @screenjunkies guy wanted to jack off in front of me pic.twitter.com/wpKlXT2fgN
— hyenasandgin.bsky.social (@hyenasandgin) October 6, 2017
As referenced in Bowers’ post, this comes the same week as the New York Times‘ Harvey Weinstein exposé was published, detailing decades of inappropriate behavior with actresses and employees. She mentions a familiar and depressing refrain for so many women who work or want to work in the entertainment business: If you want a career, you often have to overlook stuff like that.
Last month, two associates of indie movie theater chain the Alamo Drafthouse were accused of sexual assault and harassment, and Screen Junkies certainly floats in the same dude-heavy sphere of film fandom. It has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube and the Honest Trailers series—which was nominated for an Emmy—is one of it most popular commodities. It’s not just a channel, it’s a lucrative business.
On Twitter, there was shock, dismay, and calls for Defy Media, the digital media company that owns Screen Junkies, to fire Signore or offer an explanation. Other accounts of inappropriate behavior started circulating.
https://twitter.com/BeckyMoore83/status/916344417203736577
https://twitter.com/Devinstration/status/916346235099013120?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Screen Junkies employees also spoke out.
https://twitter.com/SpencerJGilbert/status/916335353136521216
https://twitter.com/MurrellDan/status/916340675188109312
We’ve reached out to Screen Junkies for comment.
Update 3:30pm, Oct. 6: A spokesperson for Defy Media sent along this statement:
We at Defy Media have no tolerance for harassment or retaliation of any kind. 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. 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.
Update 4:03pm, Oct. 9: According to a statement posted to Screen Junkies’ Twitter on Sunday, Signore has been fired.