A Minecraft Movie Cut A Streamer Cameo After Viral Jason Momoa Criticism

Just two weeks ago, it was all doom and gloom for Warner Bros. The 102-year-old movie studio was smarting from a string of high-profile flops that included "Joker: Folie à Deux," "Mickey 17," and "The Alto Knights," and was desperate for its big spring release, "A Minecraft Movie," to reverse its box office fortunes. Though tracking for the film, based on the enormously popular sandbox video game from Mojang Studios, was trending upward heading into the April 4 weekend, the studio seemed less than confident given reports that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was taking meetings with potential replacements for embattled production chiefs Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy. "A Minecraft Movie" was, stem-to-stern, their project. If it fell short of expectations, they would've been out on their ear.

There were uncertainties as to what number "A Minecraft Movie" would have to clear to be considered a bona-fide blockbuster, but, rest assured, finishing its opening weekend with per /Film's box office guru Ryan Scott, a bigger-than-"Barbie" $163 million domestically and $314 million worldwide, is a champagne-cork-popping success for Team WB. It would look dumb and petty for Zaslav to dismiss DeLuca and Abdy now (a look he's okay with flaunting), so it feels safe to say that "A Minecraft Movie" is a rising tide that will lift all boats associated with it. Save for one.

If you've seen "A Minecraft Movie" and are familiar with the streamer community that has exploded around it, you probably noticed the inclusion of famous folks from that world in cameo roles. If you're really familiar with that world, you might've noticed that one major name was missing. What happened to Valkyrae aka Rachell Marie Hofstetter? She shot a scene but didn't make the final cut, and it turns out this likely had something to do with her speaking out about an upsetting incident involving Jason Momoa that occurred during her time on set.

In a "Hot Ones" knock-off interview with Jason the Ween from 2024, Valkyrae revealed that she witnessed Momoa mistreat the crew on the set of "A Minecraft Movie." As she told the Ween, "[I]t was pretty disappointing. It was after a very intense scene, and it was a very emotional scene, so maybe he was still in character. I don't know. But I just was surprised at how he treated some of the crew."

What precisely did Momoa do? According to Valkyrae:

"He was just really mad at them that they weren't doing something right. It was setting up the shot and stuff, and he was angry, like really mad, and like yelling. So I was like, 'Man, this is not a good work environment. I would not be happy working under these conditions.'"

When Valkyrae's scene didn't appear in the film over the weekend, people speculated that this must've been retribution for her comments about Momoa. Valkyrae addressed her absence from the film during a Twitch stream on Sunday, but she tap-danced around the reason why she was cut. "Let's just say I'm not gonna touch too much on it," she said. "But as much as you guys saw the other creators that were in it, [it] would have been the equal amounts that you saw me in it, which is like 30 seconds."

She then added, "I would much rather not have that 30 seconds than be sued. So it's all good, okay? It's all good."

If she signed an NDA that prohibited her from talking about what she saw on set (unlikely), I can't see how she'd be in any legal jeopardy for talking about Momoa behaving boorishly during shooting. If she was cut because she spoke out about an actor being a jerk to crew members, that reflects poorly on the studio and the filmmakers (though it's not particularly surprising considering that he's been cast as Lobo in James Gunn's DC Universe). Unless she feels like speaking out further (or WB issues a response to her allegations, which they have yet to do), all we can do for now is speculate.