Black Panther's Tenoch Huerta exits Netflix film after sexual assault allegations

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Tenoch Huerta has dropped out of upcoming Netflix film Fiesta en la Madriguera, THR reports. News of Huerta’s departure comes a few weeks after musician and activist María Elena Ríos accused Huerta of sexual assault. Huerta has denied the claims.

Huerta, who starred as the MCU version of Atlantean king Namor in the 2022 Black Panther sequel, issued a statement today alongside the news that he was dropping out of the Netflix film, writing,

Given the impact of the recent false statements by María Elena Ríos and the damage they have caused, I have no choice but to withdraw from participating in the film Fiesta en la Madriguera. It is with great sadness that I do this, but I cannot allow her actions to harm not only me, but also the work of dozens of talented and hard-working people involved in the project. My focus now is simple: continue the process of restoring my reputation.

Ríos has accused Huerta of being a “sexual predator,” stating that “It’s very difficult to talk about the emotional abuse and the abuse of power of a sexual predator who is loved around the world for playing a character in a movie such as Tenoch Huerta.” In his denial at the time, Huerta claimed that the two had been in a long-term and consensual relationship.

Netflix announced Fiesta en la Madriguera back in late May, with Huerta attached to star; the film is being directed by Manolo Caro, working from a script from Nicolás Giacobone. It’s not clear if the movie, which, per the logline, is about a boy whose father tries to get him a pygmy hippo for his “private zoo,” will go forward now that its biggest-name star has departed the project.