Declaring "I am part of the problem," documentarian Morgan Spurlock confessed in an online post to sexual harassment and infidelity, and said a woman accused him of rape in college.
In the post, which he linked to from his verified Twitter account, Spurlock wrote that as he watches other influential men brought down by allegations of sexual misconduct, "I don't sit by and wonder 'who will be next?' I wonder, 'when will they come for me?'"
Spurlock recounted a sexual encounter in college which he said he thought was consensual, but said the woman believed it was rape.
"I tried to comfort her. To make her feel better," Spurlock wrote. "I thought I was doing ok, I believed she was feeling better. She believed she was raped. That's why I'm part of the problem."
Spurlock also said he paid a settlement to a female assistant who worked at his office and whom he called "hot pants" or "sex pants." In the post, Spurlock says he thought the nickname was funny but later realized he was demeaning her.
"So, when she decided to quit, she came to me and said if I didn't pay her a settlement, she would tell everyone," he wrote. "Being who I was, it was the last thing I wanted, so of course, I paid."
Spurlock also wrote that he has "been unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I have ever had."
"Over the years, I would look each of them in the eye and proclaim my love and then have sex with other people behind their backs," Spurlock wrote.
Spurlock wrote that he will do better and will be more honest with others and with himself. He ends the post by saying: "I've talked enough in my life. … I'm finally ready to listen."
Spurlock is best known for his Oscar-nominated 2004 documentary "Super Size Me" on the fast-food industry, in which he ate nothing but McDonald's food to show the health effects of the industry. He has produced dozens of other documentaries and TV shows and completed a sequel to "Super Size Me" this year.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More