Despite previous claims that Orlando Jones was fired from ‘American Gods’ due to his character, Mr. Nancy, sending the wrong message to African Americans, the production company for the series, Fremantle USA, states otherwise.
The actor initially took to Twitter to announce his firing, as he placed the blame on season 3 showrunner Charles Eglee. ”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 shit done is the wrong message for black America,” he said. ”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 he 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?”
However, responding a few hours later, a spokesperson for Fremantle told Deadline, “The storylines of ‘American Gods’ have continually shifted and evolved to reflect the complex mythology of the source material. Mr. Jones’ option was not picked up because Mr. Nancy, among other characters, is not featured in the portion of the book we are focusing on within season 3. Several new characters, many of which have already been announced, will be introduced into Shadow Moon’s world that will further contribute to the show’s legacy as one of the most diverse series on television.”
Jones also acknowledged that his situation is similar to those of Gabrielle Union, Nick Cannon, and more expressing that they all have had issues with Fremantle, captioning his tweet “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 too well. Stay tuned. More to come. #AngryGetsShitDone”.
Season 3 of American Gods is currently in production and will focus on the chilling Lakeside portion of EP Gaiman’s fictional tome, according to Deadline.
