Actor Jason Mitchell was dropped from Showtime’s The Chi in May following reports of misconduct allegations and nearly half a year later, he is discussing the allegations in an interview with The Breakfast Club.
Mitchell claimed that he wasn’t given a fair chance to defend himself against the allegations before getting dropped from the Netflix film Desperados and by his agent and manager.
“To be honest, I’m not 100 per cent sure what the actual allegations themselves were, but I can tell you what happened,” Mitchell said at the beginning of his interview.
READ MORE: Actor Jason Mitchell dropped from ‘The Chi,’ Netflix movie over misconduct allegations
“With Desperados we were in pre-production and I went out with a co-worker of mine and she got drunk,” Mitchell said. “And being the person that I am, I felt responsible to make sure that she got home. I told her ‘don’t take any Ubers, don’t jump in a cab… we’re in Mexico City, it’s a foreign land and we should stick together.'”
Mitchell said he made sure she got home but “the next day it kind of all slapped me in my face.”
“I’m not sure if her and her significant other had a situation because I did FaceTime her boyfriend to figure out how to get there and how to go about getting her home. I actually had a girlfriend at the time as well, and I felt like I was doing the right thing,” Mitchell explained.
He continued: “The next day they cancelled the rehearsal, and they came to me and said ‘Jason we need to talk to you about this activity that went on.’ I told them my side of the story but it still felt as if … I don’t know if there was something that I missed or something that wasn’t said.”
Mitchell said the studio wasn’t specific with him about anything and he was “baffled by that and they did pay me in full before I left.”
The Straight Outta Compton actor claims that no one on set of Desperados told him what he was being accused of.
“With that being said I just want to jump out and say for anybody who’s ever been around me they know I’m one of the most loving, sweet people in the world. But if I did do anything, say anything, make anybody feel any kind of way, you have my deepest apologies because that was never my intention – to make anybody feel any sort of way,” Mitchell said.
“I’ve definitely never put my hands on somebody or anything like that. I think it was sort of a series of events that led to things being weird between us,” Mitchell said of his co-worker from Desperados.
“I think that Netflix just made an executive decision to send me home,” he shared.
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Mitchell also discussed his firing from The Chi when host Charlamagne tha God asked him about the situation with former co-stars Tiffany Boone and Ayanna Floyd Davis who accused him of inappropriate behaviour towards them. Mitchell denied any issues with sexual misconduct against Boone, who played his girlfriend on The Chi.
“It’s crazy because there was actually no situation with Tiffany Boone… She was put in a position because this lady Ayanna Floyd Davis made a statement for Tiffany Boone and I guess she had some things to say about Desperados … she was the only person who ever made a statement at all.”
“If you try her, she will get you together right then and there, you know what I mean?” he said of Boone. “She’s not taking nothing, at all. I encourage people to be more like that, because had me and Tiffany ever had a situation where, I don’t know, she might have felt sexually harassed, I can bet my bottom dollar, she would have told me about myself in that moment.”
Mitchell says “the actual reason” why he got fired from The Chi was due to Disney seeing what was going on with Desparados.
“The actual reason why I got let go was because Disney saw what was going on with Desparados and they just bought Showtime,” Mitchell said.
“They decided not to pickup my option. And of course, I’ve been on the show, which was about to be three seasons. I was nominated for an award so I was asking for more money and other things and they weren’t down to do it.”
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The 32-year-old actor said he supports the #MeToo movement but accused Floyd Davis of using it against him.
“I really hate to say this, because I’m all for the Me Too movement,” Mitchell said. “I have two beautiful daughters who I would like to be in the business, so I’m all for the Me Too movement. But I think in this situation, Ayanna tried to use it as a really, really ugly weapon.”
“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.”
Mitchell starred in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, in which he played NWA member Eazy-E. He also starred in films such as Kong: Skull Island, Detroit, Mudbound, Superfly and Tyrel.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.