“Disappointed in David Fincher”: Michael Fassbender domestic abuse allegations resurface as The Killer trailer comes under fire

Oscar-nominated Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender will be starring in the Netflix neo-noir The Killer directed by American director David Fincher. The film’s first trailer was recently released by the platform’s official YouTube channel and shows Michael Fassbender playing the role of an assassin. While the trailer has taken the world by storm, the allegations of domestic abuse against him have resurfaced on social media.

Trigger warning: This article mentions domestic abuse allegations. Discretion is advised.

TMZ first reported in 2010 that Michael Fassbender had allegedly assaulted his former girlfriend, model and actress Sunawin "Leasi" Andrews.

The news garnered traction online after it was broken but lost steam until February 2018 when Andrews filed a petition in court complaining that Fassbender had allegedly abused her. In the two incidents that she reported, Andrew claimed that her ex-boyfriend had once broken her nose, which led to her being hospitalized and the second time, he allegedly dragged her with his car. The Daily Beast had reported this bit of information.

Both times, Michael Fassbender or his family members and spokesperson refused to comment on the accusations. However, according to the news outlet, Fassbender reportedly paid Andrews' medical bills, while she got a restraining order against him.

While a few years have passed since then, with the release of The Killer's trailer, netizens have dug out the past allegations reports and are calling the actor out. Some even slammed filmmaker David Fincher for casting Fassbender in his next venture. An X (formerly Twitter) user also went on to say that they were "disappointed" in Fincher for giving Fassbender the role.

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Michael Fassbender faces severe online backlash following the release of The Killer’s trailer

The Daily Beast had previously reported that Michael Fassbender's ex-girlfriend Sunawin Andrews had accused him of domestic abuse in March 2010. At the time, she even got a restraining order against him in Los Angeles County to keep the actor away from her and her kids. She also demanded $24,000 for medical expenses and requested that Michael be enrolled in a year-long batterer intervention program.

Later, in February 2018, she filed a petition at the same court, officially citing alleged domestic abuse allegations against Fassbender. As per The Business Insider, Andrews accused Fassbender of allegedly abusing her on multiple occasions. The instances of abuse were mentioned in the petition and led to a number of people calling Fassbender out.

The petition mentioned that when one of Andrews’ ex-boyfriends approached them during dinner, Fassbender lost his temper and allegedly physically assaulted her. He allegedly ended up giving her a twisted ankle, blown out knee cap, and a burst ovarian cyst with “lots of internal bleeding.” The petition also mentioned another incident when Fassbender allegedly attacked her while intoxicated during a film festival in Italy. In this instance, Fassbender allegedly left the model with a broken nose.

While Michael Fassbender has never broken his silence on these allegations, the internet seems to remember it and even believe the alleged victim. As a result, when the trailer of his next Netflix film The Killer released recently, netizens began calling him out. Meanwhile, others also slammed director David Fincher for casting him in the film.

A netizen says the trailer of "The Killer" reminds him of Fassbender's suspicious past. (Image via X/e)

A netizen calls both Michael and David monsters. (Image via X/Donna Dickens (Not Parody))

Here are a couple of comments under @Conductive Coder's tweet.

A netizen feels disappointed at Fassbender's alleged abusive nature. (Image via X/Queen Lastrassi)

A netizen calls Fassbender creepy. (Image via X/Rasheeda Burke)

Fassbender continues to maintain his “no comment” status as does the film director David Fincher as neither of them has made a comment on the allegations yet.

The Killer is one of 2023’s most-anticipated Netflix films and is set to release at the Venice Film Festival on September 3. It will release in theatres worldwide in October followed by a Netflix release on November 10.

Directed by David Fincher of The Zodiac and Gone Girl fame, the film explores the neo-noir genre. The psychological action thriller is based on the graphic novel series by French author Alexis Nolent and its screenplay has been written by Andrew Kevin Walker of the Seven fame.

The plot of the film revolves around Fassbender’s character who is an anonymous killer and finds his life unraveling when his hit goes wrong. He is shown struggling to deal with both his own psyche as well as his employers who try to hunt him down.

The film also stars Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, and Sophie Charlotte among others. Brad Pitt was originally set to star in Fassbender’s role when the film was conceived in 2007.

Michael Fassbender’s last film was X-Men: Dark Phoenix in 2019 which was a flop. Since then, he has pursued his other profession as a race driver. His next venture after The Killer will be Taika Waititi's football comedy Next Goal Wins set to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month.