Morgan Spurlock, filmmaker who documented dangers of McDonald’s-only diet, dies at 53

Morgan Spurlock, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker who in “Super Size Me” documented the deleterious physical and psychological effects of a fast-food diet, has died at 53.

He died from complications of cancer, according to a statement from his family.

“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” his brother Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects, wrote in the statement issued Friday morning. “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.”

Morgan Spurlock, through his documentaries, put a microscope on parts of the modern human experience that were often overlooked in media — from men’s struggles with masculinity and self-image in “Mansome” to the complex but centuries-long relationships people and rodents have shared in “Rats.” He also took big swings with more mainstream topics in documentaries including “Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden” and “One Direction: This Is Us.”

Spurlock first gained renown for “Super Size Me” in 2004. He threw himself into his filmmaking process, consuming only McDonald’s meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 30 days in his own take on obesity and overconsumption in the United States. During filming, he gained 25 pounds and suffered ill effects.

The title came from a rule he set for himself for the documentary: Whenever a McDonald’s cashier asked him whether he wanted to “super-size it,” he had to do so.

“Super Size Me” sparked larger conversations about diet and lifestyle, indirectly prompted McDonald’s to scale back its super-size options and earned Spurlock his first Oscar nomination in 2005. The film was nominated along with Lauren Lazin and Karolyn Ali’s “Tupac: Resurrection,” but Spurlock and the other nominees lost to Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, who made “Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids.”

“The one thing I know is that I don’t know everything,” Spurlock told The Times in 2008. “Far from it.”

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Spurlock directed 23 films and produced almost 70 under his Warrior Poet production company, which he co-founded in 2004 with Jeremy Chilnick.

Warrior Poet produced the documentary “‘What Would Jesus Buy?” as well as CNN docuseries “7 Deadly Sins” and “Inside Man” and the “Super Size Me” follow-up “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” In the 2017 sequel to his breakout film, Spurlock examined the fast-food industry’s more health-conscious rebranding efforts by opening a chicken restaurant of his own.

The documentarian, who built a career and legacy of uncovering overlooked truths, turned the camera lens back on himself in 2017, amid the height of the #MeToo movement. In December 2017, he revealed he had been accused of rape in college and had paid to settle a sexual harassment claim from a female employee.

“I am not some innocent bystander, I am also part of the problem,” he said in a statement posted on social media, in which he admitted to cheating on “every wife and girlfriend I have ever had.”

Spurlock also revealed that he was sexually abused as a child, struggled with sobriety and that he vows to “do better.” “The only individual I have control over is me,” he wrote.

Shortly after his revelations, Spurlock stepped down from his production company. Reports about the alleged “fratty” work environment at Warrior Poets emerged amid his exit.

“For me, there was a moment of kind of realization — as somebody who is a truth-teller and somebody who has made it a point of trying to do what’s right — of recognizing that I could do better in my own life,” he told the Associated Press in 2019. “We should be able to admit we were wrong.”

Spurlock was born Nov. 9, 1970, in West Virginia and grew up pursuing a variety of extracurricular activities, including student government, baseball, football, track and ballet. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in film from New York University in 1993.

Before becoming a documentarian, he worked as a stand-up comic, production assistant and spokesman for Sony Electronics. He also directed films for corporations and created the MTV internet show “I Bet You Will” before beginning the journey to “Super Size Me.”

He is survived by two sons, Laken and Kallen; his mother, Phyllis Spurlock; father Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and former spouses Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, the mothers of his children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.