The family of the award-winning documentary filmmaking, Morgan Spurlock, announced today he passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends on May 23, 2024, in New York from complications of cancer.
“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” says Craig Spurlock who worked with him on several projects. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”
Spurlock achieved worldwide recognition following his 2004 groundbreaking documentary SUPER SIZE ME, for which he received an Oscar nomination. The film changed the conversation about fast food in America and is still featured as an educational aide in middle and high school health classes.
Spurlock would be criticized years later for not releasing official logs of what he consumed daily during the experiment. He also didn’t inform his doctors of his consistent alcohol consumption (the filmmaker revealed in 2017 that he had been drinking regularly since he was 13 and, for 30 years, rarely, if ever, spent more than a week sober). As seen in SUPER SIZE ME many people assumed his daily eating habits — McDonald’s three times a day — that seriously damage his liver.
Over thirteen years, through his production company Warrior Poets, Spurlock found additional success producing and directing nearly 70 documentary films and television series.
Spurlock’s wide-ranging works were fueled by addressing controversial and difficult subjects. His projects covered issues including the U.S. war in Afghanistan (WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?); minimum wage and immigrant labor (FX’s 30 DAYS); consumer susceptibility to marketing (THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD); trophy hunting and body modification (Showtime TV’s 7 DEADLY SINS); elder care and gambling (CNN’s MORGAN SPURLOCK INSIDE MAN) and corporate pressure on family farms (SUPER SIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN!) in 2019.
He deeply valued the creative contributions of the talented people who worked on his projects, developing a cadre of freelance production professionals who came back time and again. A great lover of modern artists, Spurlock compiled an extensive art collection, which decorated the walls of his home and the Warrior Poets office in SoHo, New York.
In December 2017, as the #MeToo movement continued to gain traction, Spurlock wrote a lengthy social media post saying he was “part of the problem.” In the post, he admitted to serial infidelities and said he had settled an allegation of sexual harassment from a former assistant. He also said he had been accused of rape in college. The post effectively ended Spurlock’s documentary career, as Spurlock stepped down from Warrior Poets shortly after.
Morgan leaves behind two sons – Laken and Kallen; mother Phyllis Spurlock; father Ben (Iris); brothers Craig (Carolyn) and Barry (Buffy); multiple nieces and nephews; and former spouses Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, the mothers of his children.
Memorial service arrangements will be announced in the near future. In Morgan’s honor, please consider a generous donation to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in New York City.
