Celebrated as one of the honorees at Girl Up's first ever event, the Casey Bracket depicter points out why it was obvious for her to speaking out about the 'Predator' sex offender controversy.
- Oct 16, 2018
AceShowbiz - Olivia Munn was celebrated at the inaugural Girl Hero Awards on Sunday, October 14, for speaking out about the sex offender controversy surrounding her movie "The Predator".
The actress was applauded by officials at the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up initiative at its first ever prizegiving in Los Angeles, five weeks after going public with the ill-advised casting of Steven Wilder Striegel, who served time behind bars for trying to coax a 14-year-old relative into a sexual relationship back in 2010.
Striegel landed a role in Munn's sci-fi thriller, but after learning about his past, she brought the information to Twentieth Century Fox studio bosses' attention, and they agreed to cut his lone scene with her from the finished film.
On Sunday, Munn admitted it was "obvious" which option she had to take as she weighed up either keeping quiet about the sex crime or taking action at the risk of her own career, insisting, "Even if no one else would know, I couldn't walk around knowing that I knew something and did nothing."
"There is no contest. You have to speak out," she continued. "If they want to take my career, that's OK, because my self worth is something so much bigger."
The actress also revealed that she had vowed to herself to spread positivity throughout 2018, because that's what she wants to be remembered for.
"It's so important to me to always be the person I hoped I would be," she shared. "When I sit with myself at night, will my mum be proud of me? Those things matter to me."
Munn joined fellow actresses and activists Yara Shahidi and Chrissy Metz as honorees at the event, where they were also praised for their work to improve gender equality.