In a post on Monday, Tiffany Boone addressed her exit from The Chi for the first time. Boone departed the show after making workplace misconduct allegations against her co-star, Jason Mitchell. Boone reportedly asked out of her contract and was released, freeing her up for other projects.
In the statement on Instagram, while not going into details, she spoke about her decision to leave the show, her new projects and more. The post comes as her new series, Amazon’s Nazi-hunting drama, Hunters, premieres this week. She also stars in Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, which premieres next month, with Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon.
On the allegations against Mitchell on The Chi, she wrote in part, “I’d already spoken to HR and high-level producers about a few of my concerns after season one. I returned for season two, feeling assured that HR training would set the show on the right track. However, once we started filming, I quickly realized that not everyone was interested in creating a work environment that was conducive to each person feeling safe, seen, and heard.”
She continued, “You don’t carelessly leave a ‘hit show’ that is praised by your community. I deeply love Chicago and the people of that city who have embraced me. I felt honored and privileged to be part of telling their story. The weight of what I was leaving behind felt like a ton, but the weight of my responsibility to speak up was even heavier. There were people who questioned my decision. How could I be sure I would work again, especially on a project of that magnitude? I wasn’t sure, but I had faith that once I took that leap I could be guided wherever I was supposed to go.”
You can read Boone’s statement in full below:
Last May, the news first broke of the misconduct allegations surrounding Mitchell by actresses on The Chi (including Boone) and on a Netflix film Desperados. After he was dropped from Desperados, Mitchell was subsequently dropped by his representatives and The Chi. As far as the Netflix film, Desperados, it is reported that “the actor began making actresses uncomfortable almost as soon as he arrived in Mexico, where the film is now shooting.” That film is set to star Anna Camp, Nasim Pedrad, Robbie Amell and Lamorne Morris (who replaced Mitchell).
Later, The Hollywood Reporter ran an account of events from Ayanna Floyd Davis, the season 2 showrunner of The Chi, who said she was also a target of Mitchell’s behavior and that everyone, including Lena Waithe, was aware of what was going on. Waithe would go on to appear on The Breakfast Club as well to talk about the situation, where she said in part, “My biggest regret is I wish I would have not trusted anyone to do my job and just reached out to Tiffany on my own and ask what I can do to fix it. I trusted someone else to do my job and the truth is, can’t nobody do my job like me. I’m very blunt, I’m a chick from Chicago and I don’t play. I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus, but I wish that I could have handled the situation differently and I wish I would have done more.”
Not much is known about the specific allegations made against Mitchell from those on The Chi, just that they had to do with his behavior on the set of the show. However, Davis did go on to say that she was “a target of his rage and inappropriateness.”
In a November 2019 interview on The Breakfast Club, Mitchell essentially denied all of the claims and stated that he did not know much about the allegations himself.
READ MORE:
Former ‘The Chi’ Star Jason Mitchell Breaks Silence In First Interview Since Misconduct Allegations
Lena Waithe On Jason Mitchell Allegations: “I Wish I Could Have Handled The Situation Differently”
Jason Mitchell Dropped From ‘The Chi,’ Upcoming Netflix Film And More After Misconduct Allegations
Photo: Showtime
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