After receiving several nods for the upcoming award season, FX’s English Teacher may be in jeopardy after sexual assault allegations have surfaced around creator and star Brian Jordan Alvarez.
What’s Happening:
- The Daily Beast reports that the future of FX’s English Teacher may be up in the air, amid serious sexual assault claims against the show’s creator and star Brian Jordan Alvarez.
- Prior to finding success on mainstream television, the actor and comedian spearheaded the 2016 web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo.
- According to the newsource, fellow cast member and former friend Jon Ebeling alleges that Alvarez sexually assaulted him while filming the web series.
- A day prior to English Teachers premiere, Ebeling filed a police report of the incident and reported Alvarez to the Screen Actors Guild.
- Alvarez has denied these claims, stating that his interactions with Ebeling were “consensual.”
- However, English Teacher has yet to be renewed for a second season, even with the show's critical acclaim.
- When approached by the Daily Beast for comment, FX declined to comment on the future of the series.
- A spokesperson for the network shared “We reviewed the allegations presented to us by another media outlet prior to the show’s launch. Mr. Ebeling never reached out to us with any concerns. We will have no further comment at this time.”
- The silence is a bad sign for English Teacher, as the show has already received several nods prior to awards season.
- Alvarez also received individual nods for his performance in the series, including Best Lead Performance at the Indie Spirits as well as a Best Actor nod at the Critics Choice Awards.
- A spokesperson for Alvarez shared a statement with The Daily Beast:
“Brian Jordan Alvarez’s interactions with Jon Ebeling were always entirely consensual—as numerous witnesses have attested. Indeed, in 2018, two years after this alleged incident, Mr. Ebeling himself unambiguously said as much on tape.
For many months, Mr. Ebeling has peddled his falsehoods to anyone who would listen but, when confronted with proof of his duplicity and definitive evidence provided by third parties showing why Mr. Ebeling should not be trusted, numerous media outlets declined to print his outrageous claims. Sadly, New York Magazine displayed no such judgment in its reckless headlong pursuit of publishing a salacious, attention-grabbing article, no matter the truth.
As well as minimizing Mr. Ebeling’s taped admission that his relationship with Brian had always been consensual, New York Magazine entirely ignored first-hand testimony about Mr. Ebeling’s history as a perpetrator of scarring acts of assault. That’s beyond disappointing and is a deeply troubling reflection on New York Magazine’s ethics—and anyone tempted to republish Mr. Ebeling’s claims should be aware of the risks involved in doing so. Brian is currently taking legal advice as he considers his next steps.”
- Stephanie Koenig, friend of Alvarez and fellow writer and star of English Teacher, had been dating Ebeling at the time of the alleged assault. According to a deep dive done by Vulture, Koenig believed that Ebeling had cheated on her with Alvarez, prompting the pair's split.
- Shared by Ebeling, Koenig and the rest of his and Alvarez’s shared friends and colleagues sided with Alvarez. Some of which minimized his claims as “jealousy” of Alvarez’s success.
- If this was so cut and dry, it begs the question as to why FX has yet to celebrate the show’s widespread success by announcing a second season.
- However, with more information surfacing from Vulture’s deep dive, it is possible that the network doesn’t want to risk brushing off these claims. The deep dive also shared that “FX is aware of the allegations and has yet to renew it for a second season.”
- While Ebeling went public with these allegations just ahead of English Teacher’s premiere, he began sharing his story with friends and acquaintances over the past few years.
- With so much information now out surrounding Ebeling’s allegations and FX continuing to dodge questions about the future of the series, it is safe to say we may not see more of English Teacher.
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