Former ‘The Chi’ actor Jason Mitchell decries misconduct allegations that got him fired

Actor Jason Mitchell is speaking out against reports from May that he had been fired from Showtime’s “The Chi,” along with an upcoming Netflix movie and had been dropped by his agent and manager over misconduct allegations.

Appearing on Monday’s episode of “The Breakfast Club” morning show, Mitchell claimed he was not given a fair chance to defend himself before getting dropped from Netflix’s upcoming film “Desperados.”

“To be honest, I’m not 100 percent sure what the actual allegations themselves were, but I can tell you what happened,” Mitchell said, adding he was in Mexico City during pre-production and was out with a female co-worker who got drunk.

“Being the person that I am, I felt responsible to make sure she got home,” he added. ”Because they’re already telling us, like, ‘Don’t take the Ubers, don’t trust these people, don’t jump in a cab, don’t do any of that.’ We’re in Mexico City and we’re in a foreign land and we should stick together. This isn’t where I leave her. So I make sure she got home and the next day, it kind of all slapped me in the face ... I made sure she got home but other than that, nothing really happened.”

USA TODAY has reached out to a Netflix representative for comment. Showtime declined to comment.

After his breakout role as Eazy-E in 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton,” Mitchell, 32, went on to star as Brandon Johnson in ”The Chi,” Lena Waithe’s TV drama about a loosely connected group of Chicago South Side neighbors.

Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter wrote in May that Mitchell was fired from “Desperados” over allegations of misconduct. He was soon after fired from “The Chi,” and dropped by United Talent Agency.

Mitchell said he “felt like he was doing the right thing” by accompanying the co-worker home, but rehearsal was canceled the next day and he was called in to share his side of the story. He said production never told him exactly what he was accused of and thought Netflix just made “an executive decision” to send him home, though he said he was paid in full before he left Mexico City.

“For anybody who’s 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,” he added. ”Like, honestly, my deepest apologies. Because that was never my intention of making anybody feel any sort of way. I’ve definitely never put my hands on somebody or anything like that. I think it was just sort of a series of events that led to things kind of being weird between us, if that makes sense.”

His firing from Showtime’s “The Chi,” which happened directly after “Desperados” let him go, was due to a separate issue, Mitchell said, offering several ideas about why he may have been let go, including the “Desperados” incident, an argument with a co-worker on the show and him asking for a raise.

“I was a little taken back by the whole situation that happened, but the actual reason I got let go was because Disney saw what was going on with ‘Desperados’ and they just bought Showtime. So they decided not to pick up my option,” he said. “And of course, I’ve been on the show for what was about to be three seasons, I was nominated for an award, so I was asking for more money and all these sorts of things and they just weren’t down to do it.”

Mitchell denied any issues with sexual misconduct against co-star Tiffany Boone, who played his girlfriend on the show. The Hollywood Reporter wrote in May that she “made repeated complaints of sexual harassment” and felt “unsafe” around him. Mitchell said he thought Boone would have told him “in that moment” if she had a problem with something he did.

“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, (‘Chi’ season two showrunner) Ayanna (Floyd Davis) tried to use it as a really, really ugly weapon.”

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