Jason Mitchell Breaks His Silence on Being Fired From ‘The Chi’
Jason Mitchell is opening up about being fired from both Showtime’s The Chi and the Netflix film Desperados.
The actor went on The Breakfast Club radio show, hosted by DJ Envy, Angela Yee, and Charlamagne tha God, and addressed the recent allegations of misconduct against him.
According to the earlier reports, Mitchell was let go from the Showtime drama due to “allegations of inappropriate behavior” and that his co-star, Tiffany Boone, “had issues” with him. However, Mitchell said on the radio show that “there was actually no situation with Tiffany Boone” and she “never went to HR” or “made a statement.” He did share that the two decided to only have a work relationship early on in the series, due to their different views on things and the fact that they’re both “very opinionated.”
Instead, Mitchell assumed that the reports of issues between the two came from former showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis. “[Tiffany] was put in a position because Ayanna Floyd Davis did come out and go to Deadline and made a statement for Tiffany Boone,” he said. “She had a lot to say. But she was the only person who ever made a statement at all.”
He added that he was fired from The Chi because Disney heard what happened on Desperados and “decided not to pick up [his] option.” “I’ve been on the show for was about to be three seasons, I was nominated for an award, so I was asking for more money,” he said. “They weren’t down to do it.”
As for what happened with the Netflix film, Mitchell said he’s “not 100 percent sure what the allegations themselves were.” During pre-production, he went out with a coworker, who got drunk. “Being the person that I am, I felt responsible to make sure she got home,” he said, adding he FaceTimed her boyfriend for directions. “The next day, it all slapped me in my face.” According to the actor, no one told him what he was accused of.
(Parrish Lewis/SHOWTIME)
“For anybody who’s ever been around me, they know I’m one of the most loving, sweet people in the world, but if I did do anything, say anything, make anybody feel any kind of way, you have my deepest apologies,” Mitchell said. “I’ve definitely never put my hands on somebody or anything like that. I think it was just sort of a series of events that led to things being weird between us. I think that Netflix just made an executive decision.”
Mitchell also detailed “a situation” between himself and Floyd Davis on the set of The Chi. After his friend, Young Greatness, was killed on October 17, he “was torn up about it” and “was using it” while filming emotional scenes on the drama. After he returned to video village, he said Floyd Davis told him they wanted to make sure he was OK because they didn’t want him “to go home and self-medicate,” which “offended” him.
After he spoke with creator Lena Waithe about it, he said she took it to HR and Floyd Davis then went back to him. “It turned it into a heated discussion,” he shared. “She said that she felt threatened by me. … I feel maybe I might have unintentionally intimidated her.”
“I’m all for the #MeToo movement,” he said. “I think in this situation, Ayanna tried to use it as a really, really ugly weapon because Tiffany Boone left the show because she got a better job.”
(Tyler Mitchell/SHOWTIME)
Showtime’s co-president of entertainment, Gary Levine, has already revealed how Mitchell’s character, Brandon, will be written out in Season 3. “There is a lot of great life in The Chi and there’s also death in The Chi and that’s how we’ll be dealing with it,” he said.
The Chi, Season 3, Coming Soon, Showtime
