‘American Gods’ Season 3 Drama Continues After Orlando Jones Exit
Orlando Jones decided to share an exchange with one of his former costars from American Gods on Saturday.
“I gotta spill some tea today,” Jones posted in the early afternoon. “I don’t really want to but you’re gonna find out anyway so may as well show the receipts and get your take on it cuz I’m so confused.”
He later added that he “thought about keeping it confidential” but assumed it would eventually leak. He proceeded to post screenshots from what looks like a conversation over direct messages on Twitter with costar Ricky Whittle. According to Jones, this came after he posted the video detailing his firing from American Gods in December.
According to what Jones identified as Whittle’s part of the conversation, the actor wrote that he “was genuinely worried” about him. “Would love to talk about what u actually want & what ur doing to the fam,” the message read. “Using the racism card to burn ur friends house down is clever but we both know it’s just incompetence not racism & we are caught in the crossfire. U have put me and the cast in a bad position that’s unfair.”
Jones then added his own message next to the screenshot of the DMs. “This man has no idea what transpired between me, Fremantle and Starz,” he wrote, adding that Whittle hadn’t “asked” or “cared.” He went on to note that they had different experiences on the show, pointing out that Whittle knows “WAY more” as “the star.”
Tea is spilt. His message is on the left. My response is on the right. This #BlackHistoryMonth remember we are #StrongerTogether https://t.co/2bHrbj0adL pic.twitter.com/mq7wLoavf3
— Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) February 29, 2020
Both screenshots detail Jones’ writing for some of the series’ characters last season. “U wrote some beautiful stuff and really helped us get through a tough Season 2,” the conversation detailed. “When I showed up to work in Season 2, they hadn’t written at all for Mr. Nancy,” Jones previously shared. In fact, he was “in the writing chair for all of the disenfranchised characters.”
In December, Jones posted a video revealing that he’d been fired from the Starz drama in September 2019 and was surprised that no one told the fans they wouldn’t be seeing his character, Mr. Nancy, in the third season. (According to a statement released by Fremantle, Mr. Nancy’s absence is due to the storylines from the books that will be featured in the new episodes.) “What I was told was ‘angry gets s**t done is the wrong message for black America, and that the new showrunner [Chic Elgee] writes from a black male perspective,” he said at the time.
In December, Whittle shared a message supporting Jones and Elgee while looking ahead to Season 3. “[I’m] unable to speak on his situation as I have no knowledge of what is or has transpired, I was not addressed nor am I privy to any decisions made regarding cast/storyline,” he’d written.
I love Lando,my cast, crew, fans & this show, #Thatsalliknow #season3isfire pic.twitter.com/QMRlLX4AFD
— Ricky Whittle (@MrRickyWhittle) December 15, 2019
I love my family, my friends, my fans, cast and crew. Positivity breeds positivity and will only ever seek to spread light and love ❤️🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/ygFCdYmngW
— Ricky Whittle (@MrRickyWhittle) March 1, 2020
American Gods, Season 3, Coming Soon, Starz
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