'Honest Trailers' creator Andy Signore fired after sexual abuse allegations

andy signore

On Sunday, Defy Media fired the creator of its popular YouTube series, "Honest Trailers," after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and abuse.

"Honest Trailers" spoof the traditional blockbuster film format, and include snarky commentary that poke fun at the films. "Honest Trailers" has created trailers for "Blade Runner," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and more.

Defy released an official statement announcing Andy Signore's termination would be "effective immediately."

The company said it had been investigating his behavior since August, and that there was "simply no justification for his egregious and intolerable behavior.”

Emma Bower, a former intern of Signore's, wrote a detailed Facebook post last week alleging Signore tried to masturbate in front of her while she was working for him.

Anyway, here’s the whole story about how the @screenjunkies guy wanted to jack off in front of me http://pic.twitter.com/wpKlXT2fgN
— An Emerican Werewolf (@EmmaBowers) October 6, 2017

April Dawn, a Screen Junkies fan, also shared her personal account with Signore on social media, alleging that he tried to assault her multiple times and offered her a position at Screen Junkies in return for sexual favors.

A more detailed statement on the harassment I received from Andy Signore. http://pic.twitter.com/wVGwr8ATCa
— AprilDawn OfThe Dead (@April13Dawn) October 6, 2017

In Dawn's statement, she said she and two other women went to the Screen Junkies HR department, but their claims were not taken seriously.

Defy owns the YouTube channel Screen Junkies, which airs the series created by Signore every Tuesday. Screen Junkies has over six million YouTube subscribers, and the 225 videos of "Honest Trailers" have been viewed a combined 157,346,025 times.

Here is Defy's full statement on Signore's termination:

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.

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