Tenoch Huerta, who gained mainstream fame last year playing Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is exiting production on the forthcoming Netflix film, , amid allegations of sexual assault.Huerta announced the news of his departure in a statement to on Wednesday.«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 ,» Huerta claimed in his statement. «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,» Huerta concluded.Netflix first announced the project in May, with director Manolo Caro helming production on a screenplay from Oscar-winning scribe Nicolás Giacobone.On June 10, musician María Elena Ríos accused Huerta of being a «sexual predator» — a claim he denied and said was a «false and completely unsubstantiated accusation.»Ríos leveled her allegations on Twitter, writing in Spanish, «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.»«Charming in appearance, the great hallmark of a narcissist + a good helping of victimization,» she added of Huerta, who is also known for his roles in and As for why she didn't report the alleged assault, Ríos explained, «They say those who live in a macho country, where justice is unattainable, where they almost kill you — and even still they don't believe you and justice isn't served.
