Morgan Spurlock, a well-known director, died Thursday evening from cancer-related complications, his family confirmed. He was 53.
“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Craig Spurlock, who collaborated with his sibling on multiple projects, wrote in a statement to Variety Friday.
“Morgan contributed so much with his paintings, ideas, and compassion. Today, the world lost a great creative talent and a unique individual. I’m really proud to have worked with him.”
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Spurlock rose to prominence in 2004 after directing and starring in the popular documentary “Super Size Me,” which followed him for 30 days as he claimed to eat nothing but McDonald’s food. Throughout the month, his physical and mental condition deteriorated.
The film, which garnered an Oscar nomination, sparked considerable debate over eating habits; however, the project’s accuracy has been called into question in recent years, as Spurlock eventually acknowledged to drinking frequently while filming.
The Oscar winner’s reputation shattered in December 2017 after he admitted on X (previously Twitter) to sexually abusing women and being unfaithful to “every wife and girlfriend I have ever had.”
Spurlock acknowledged to paying a settlement to a female assistant whom he would frequently refer to as “hot pants” or “sex pants,” describing the situation as “funny at the time, but then realized I had completely demeaned and belittled her to a place of non-existence.”
Spurlock initially reported a circumstance in college where a “one-night stand” left the female he was with in tears as they were having sex.
The day after his confession, the storyteller resigned from his production firm.
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He also directed the 2008 film “Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?,” From 2005 to 2008, he starred in and executive produced the FX reality show “30 Days,” as well as “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” (2011) and “One Direction: This Is Us (2013).
Spurlock was previously married to Priscilla Sommer from 1996 to 2003. He later married Alex Jamieson in 2006, however the couple separated in 2011. He married his third wife, Sara Bernstein, in 2016 and they divorced earlier this year.
He is survived by his parents, Ben and Phyllis Spurlock, as well as his two boys, Laken, 17, whom he shared with Jamieson, and Kallen, 8, who he had with Bernstein.
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