Actor Jason Mitchell sat down with the Breakfast Club in his first interview since he was accused of misconduct earlier this year.
Back in May, Mitchell was let go from his leading role in the hit Showtime drama series #TheChi after several allegations of workplace misconduct emerged online. The allegations stemmed from the first season of the show in which Mitchell’s co-star allegedly accused him of inappropriate behavior.
The next season, showrunner #AyannaFloyd accused the actor of the same activity. After the allegations surfaced, Mitchell was immediately dropped from every project, as well as his agency UTA. Mitchell explained that his PR team told him to take down all of social media and to stay away from the blogs until further notice; he hadn’t spoken out about the incidents until now.
“To be honest, I’m not 100 percent sure what the allegations themselves were,” Mitchell said at the top of the interview. “But I can tell you what happened.”
He went on to explain the situation that allegedly led up to him being dismissed from “Desperados,” which occurred during its pre-production. “I went out with a co-worker of mine, and she got drunk,” he said. “I made sure she got home, and the next day it all kind of slapped me in my face, I’m not sure if her and her significant other had a situation… I actually had a girlfriend at the time, too, as well, and I felt like I was doing the right thing. The next day they canceled the rehearsal, I told them my side of the story, and I don’t know if there was something that I missed.”
Mitchell did not explain in full detail what exactly happened in those incidents, but went on to explain what led to his dismissal from ”The Chi.”
During the interview, Mitchell revealed that there was ”no situation” with his co-star Tiffany Boone but noted that they never really got along and would often have heated conversations about politics and other matters in life. But apparently, the real issue at ”The Chi” stemmed from an altercation with Floyd, as he claimed that she used the “#MeToo Movement as a really, really ugly weapon” against him.
”I might have unintentionally sort of intimidated her, and I can take that L,” he said, referring to Floyd’s claim that she was a “target” of Mitchell’s “rage and inappropriateness” on set. “For me, I can definitely take my L and say, I could have handled that better. There was a time where I could have just walked off. I didn’t have to say anything to her, I didn’t have to respond.”
Despite all the drama, Mitchell expressed that he and the show’s creator Lena Waithe are still on good terms, and there are no hard feelings about him being removed from the show.
