This would not have been part of Apple TV’s launch plans. For a few days, rumors swirled of a release delay for their much-anticipated movie The Banker. Nobody knew why. Now it has come to light that a suspected nonce is to blame. #epsteintoo
Not only has the limited cinema release been delayed indefinitely, the streaming release on Apple TV+ is cancelled for the foreseeable future.
The AFI Fest closing-night premiere was cancelled with little warning on Wednesday. Apple cited their concerns about the film and now details of what those concerns were is in the open.
Sexual misconduct allegations have been made against Bernard Garrett Jr., the son of the lead character in the film Bernard Garrett Sr. who is played by Anthony Mackie.
In pre-Civil Rights Act America, the movie tells the story of two black men in Los Angeles who recruited a white man to front their growing and successful business. Garrett Jr. was a co-producer on the film and was heavily involved in the pre-press and release junkets.
Now Garrett Jr.’s half-sisters, roughly 15 years his junior, have made allegations and Apple is aware that Garrett Jr. sexually molested them over the course of several years. It is also alleged that the film’s timeline was altered to remove the girls and their mother.
The film focuses on Bernard Garrett Sr.’s first wife. However he had already divorced her by the time the events of the movie unfolded.
Cynthia Garrett is the older of the two girls and now has a long-standing career in the entertainment industry herself. In an interview with Indiewire she said:
“Yes it’s true. They omitted my mom and my siblings and I entirely. Stole our mom and our life story and did so with our abuser. It hurts. Deeply.
HOLLYWOOD needs regulations that make filmmakers way more responsible and accountable for taking people’s life stories and with whom they work.”
Bernard Garrett Jr.’s name has reportedly been scrubbed from the credits of the film. It remains unclear as to whether the movie, co-starring Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult and Nia Long, will ever have a release.
