Comedian and actor Orlando Jones has taken to Twitter to state that he won’t be appearing in the upcoming third season of Starz’s American Gods, claiming that he was fired by new showrunner Charles Eglee who alledgedly decided that Jones’ character Mr. Nancy sends “the wrong message for black America”.
“There will be no more Mr. Nancy,” reveals Jones in a video posted to social media. “Don’t let these motherfuckers tell you they love Mr. Nancy. They don’t. I’m not going to name names but the new season 3 showrunner [Eglee] 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. That’s right. 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?”
https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/1205836143897579520
In response to Jones’ video, a spokesperson for American Gods issued the following statement:
“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 three. 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.”
SEE ALSO: Iwan Rheon to play “a charming, good-natured leprechaun” in American Gods season 3
Season three of American Gods is set to air on Starz at some point next year, and will follow Ricky Whittle’s Shadow “as he attempts to break away and assert himself as his own man, setting down roots in the idyllic snowy town of Lakeside, WI, where he’ll uncover a dark secret while exploring questions of his own divinity. Guided on this spiritual journey by the gods of his black ancestors, the Orishas, Shadow must decide exactly who he is: a god seeking veneration or a man in service of the ‘we’.”
