Olivia Munn is no stranger to speaking up about injustices in Hollywood, and she’s just revealed another shocking story from her past. During an appearance on Monica Lewinsky’s Reclaiming podcast, Munn shared that she once rejected a seven-figure payout from a studio that wanted her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) following a “traumatic” experience on set.
While Munn didn’t name the film or go into detail about the incident, she did explain that the situation led her to file complaints with the studio. In response, they offered her a hefty sum of money—but with strings attached.
“I had to file complaints with the studio, and there’s a lot of other little things that go along with it, but it got to this place where I was offered a lot of money,” Munn said (via E! Online). “Seven figures to accept, I guess, their apology and them taking acknowledgement of it, but it came along with an NDA. Not that I ever would talk about it truly, because I wanted to move past it all. But I said I’m not signing an NDA, and they said I have to.”
Munn, however, wasn’t willing to let the studio dictate her silence.
“I just felt it was so wrong,” she continued. “And at this time specifically, this was in the beginning of #MeToo and Time’s Up. This was like the reckoning, the Harvey Weinstein reckoning that began it all. This was that time period, and this was when people were targeting anyone who signed an NDA saying, ‘Oh, you only did it for the money,’ so I was afraid that my voice and speaking up would reverse any kind of validity to my voice.”
She also feared the studio might leak the NDA to discredit her. After consulting with lawyers, she walked out of the meeting without signing anything—something she still feels proud of to this day.
“I remember feeling so proud when I walked out—so proud of myself,” Munn said. She admitted that her initial reaction was driven by anger, but in hindsight, she still believes she made the right decision. “I did not think about negotiating. I did not think about anything besides how disrespectful that was. … Look, was it the right thing to do and do the people in my life think that I did the right thing and are proud of me for that? Yes. It’s not that I wouldn’t have ended up with the same decision, it’s that I made that decision based on anger, and that is something I had to learn how to rein in and use for my benefit.”
Munn has consistently been outspoken about misconduct in Hollywood. In 2017, she accused director Brett Ratner of sexual harassment, claiming he masturbated in front of her when she visited his trailer on the set of After the Sunset in 2004. A year later, she called out 20th Century Fox for hiring Shane Black’s friend, registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel, in The Predator (2018). Black later apologized.
With this latest revelation, Munn once again proves she’s unafraid to stand up for what’s right—no matter the cost.
