Orlando Jones: I was fired from American Gods, told my role is "wrong message for black America"

TVLine

Jones posted an expletive-laced video on Twitter this morning alleging he was dropped from Season 3 of the already-troubled Starz series because new showrunner Charles “Chic” Eglee thought the character of Mr. Nancy sends “the wrong message” to “black America.” “There will be no more Mr. Nancy,” he said. “Don’t let these motherf*ckers tell you they love Mr. Nancy. They don’t. I’m not going to name names but the new Season 3 showrunner is Connecticut born and Yale-educated, so he’s very smart and he thinks that Mr. Nancy’s angry, get sh*t done (attitude) is the wrong message for black America. That’s right. This white man sits in that decision-making chair, and I’m sure he has many black BFFs who are his advisors and made it clear to him that if they did not get rid of that angry god Mr. Nancy, he’d start a Denmark Vesey uprising in this country. I mean, what else could it be?" Starz and production company Fremantle have yet to respond to Jones' allegations. Fremantle also produces America's Got Talent, which is embroiled in a controversy following the ouster of Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough. Union retweeted Jones' video, adding: “Ohhhhhhhhhhh … let’s chat my friend. #StrongerTogether." In a second tweet, Jones connected his ouster with the America's Got Talent controversy: "Correction: I was fired Sept 10, 2019 like @itsgabrielleu @OfficialMelB @NickCannon @heidiklum all have said @FremantleUS is a nightmare. They treated you like a 2nd class citizen for doing your job to well. Stay tuned. More to come. #AngryGetsSh*tDone." Former American Gods executive producers Bryan Fuller and Michael Green also responded to Jones' video, with Fuller tweeting "HEARTBREAKING." Green tweeted: "I loved every minute of working with this wonderful man. His talent is (fire emojis) and his (fire emojis) is essential."