Actor Orlando Jones broke his silence as he took to social media to address him being fired by producers Fremantle from the Starz drama American Gods.
What We Know:
- Orlando Jones played the trickster god Anansi, aka Mr. Nancy, on the Fremantle-produced show based on Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed 2001 novel.
- Jones claimed the decision was made by new showrunner Charles Eglee in September. Eglee didn’t believe the character of Mr. Nancy appropriately fit into the show’s narrative any longer.
- “Don’t let these motherfuckers tell you they love Mr. Nancy. They don’t,” Jones explained in the video. “I’m not going to name names but the new season-three showrunner is Connecticut born and Yale educated, so he’s very smart and he thinks that Mr. Nancy’s angry, get-shit-done is the wrong message for black America.”
Thank you #AmericanGods fans.
I know ya’ll have LOTS of questions about the firing. As always I promise to tell you the truth and nothing but. ❤️ Always, Mr. Nancy🙏🏿 pic.twitter.com/sDouoQlUMd— Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) December 14, 2019
- Jones sat down with TMZ to elaborate on why he believes he was fired and mentions the similarities between him and Gabrielle Union who has also had issues with Fremantle.
- Jones referred to the showrunner as a culture vulture during an interview on Sirius XM’s-The Clay Cane Show. “Culture vulture white guy is running around with a Black Panther T-shirt on talking like you black, acting like you black, thinking you blacker than black people,” Jones said.
- He goes on to say that “there is nobody of color around him that has the guts to say ‘Hey sir, you probably shouldn’t say that you write from a black male perspective. You’re like a 60-plus-year-old white man. Are you serious right now?’”
So according to @americangodsus and @FremantleUS Chic Eglee , The show runner and myself clashed, let’s be clear I HAVE NEVER had a conversation or met the showrunner, he never once reached out to me or called me!! He sent others to do his dirty work….
— Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) December 16, 2019
- Jones also claimed Eglee expressed wanting to get rid of diverse characters such as Salim (Omad Abtahi) and (Ifrit) Mousa Kraish, whose story arc sparked interest since they were gay and Muslim.
In an interview with Deadline, Jones says that he is considering taking legal action against Fremantle.
