Star of
Showtime series
fired by network
agent, management
team and Netflix
for misconduct
on set
Variety is reporting that The Chi star, Jason Mitchell, will not be returning for Season 3 as he faces possible misconduct allegations.
Season 2 of the Showtime ensemble show, filmed here on location, premiered last month and will continue to release episodes through the planned season finale on June 16. This season followed Mitchell’s character, Brandon, as he strived to better himself with an ambitious plan to launch a food truck business. Mitchell has earned a nomination for MTV Movie & TV Awards in the Best Performance In a Show category.
But the troubling news doesn’t stop there for the actor, who also was the breakout star of Straight Outta Compton and Mudbound. The same article says that the extremely serious misconduct allegations have prompted Mitchell’s agency representatives at UTA and his management team at Authentic to drop him as a client. He has also left the upcoming Netflix film, Desperados, as well.
The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the story, says Tiffany Boone, who plays Mitchell’s girlfriend on The Chi, was among several actresses on the series who had issues with the actor. She made repeated complaints of sexual harassment and allegedly felt so unsafe with her co-star that at times her fiancé, Dear White People actor Marque Richardson, would come to set when she shot scenes with him.
The THR source also says Boone ultimately informed producers at Fox 21 Studios, the series’ production company, that she could no longer work with Mitchell. Initially, he was retained while she was released at her request to pursue other projects. It’s unclear what finally led the studio to act.
The dismissals allegedly began with the dramedy Desperados, a Good Universe production. After the producers received information about an alleged off-set incident, the incident was investigated immediately and led to Mitchell’s termination from the film, in which he was to star opposite Nasim Pedrad, Anna Camp and Robbie Amell.
In the years following his breakout role as Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton, Mitchell has steadily gained roles in studio blockbusters and independent films alike, appearing in the casts of Kong: Skull Island and Detroit. Mitchell’s most recent film appearance was in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s debut feature The Mustang, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before a limited release in March.
The actor was previously investigated for assault in 2016 when a woman accused him of slamming her to the ground in a Boston hotel. There is no word on whether Mitchell will be written out of the series or replaced with a different actor.
Source: Multiple
