Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock dies aged 53

Morgan Spurlock, the director and filmmaker best known for Super Size Me, has died due to complications from cancer.

In a press release announcing Spurlock’s death, his brother Craig said, “It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan. 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, who was 53 at the time of his death, gained critical acclaim and commercial success as a documentary filmmaker, starting with his first documentary, 2004’s Super Size Me.

In Super Size Me, Spurlock aspired to prove that fast food companies like McDonald’s were at least in part to blame for the American obesity crisis. Over the course of 30 days, he ate nothing but McDonald’s food for every meal, documenting the effect it had on his overall health.

Super Size Me was a massive hit when it was released, and the shocking toll it took on his body was at the center of an increased discussion about the American health crisis. While the film did have ancillary effects on the fast food industry, Super Size Me and Spurlock’s unorthodox method have been scrutinized.

Following Super Size Me, Spurlock went on to become a noted documentary filmmaker. His films included Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, which focused on the US war in Afghanistan; Freakonomics, which focused on the economy; and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a film about product placement and marketing susceptibility.

On TV, he would produce and host a handful of series with his unique participatory journalist style. These included 30 Days, which followed individuals as they embraced a significant lifestyle change for a full month, and Inside Man, a CNN documentary series in which he spent a week deeply engrained in a topic.

Spurlock’s last film was 2017’s Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, a sequel in which Spurlock opened his own fast-food restaurant while investigating how the industry had attempted to rebrand in the wake of his original documentary and how the chicken industry, in particular, exploited farmers.

In 2017, Spurlock’s career was halted when he admitted to a history of sexual misconduct in a post on his Twitter/X account and left his production company, Warrior Poets. In the same blog post, Spurlock also admitted to a lifelong struggle with alcohol abuse, which some have pointed to as a possible cause for the health issues he faced during Super Size Me.