MovieChat Forums > Lethal Weapon (2016) Discussion > Wayans ranting about Crawford on Twitter

Wayans ranting about Crawford on Twitter

posted 7 years ago by Aphrodite (110)
14 replies | jump to latest

Well this was a shocker when I got online this afternoon. I’m sure everyone has seen the stories, but here’s a link in case you haven’t: http://deadline.com/2018/05/lethal-weapon-damon-wayans-video-photo-shrapnel-injury-clayne-crawford-1202391156/

This has just gotten really crazy. I have to admit, when news broke that Clayne was fired and Seann William Scott was cast as Riggs’ brother and Murtaugh’s new partner (huh? How is that gonna work? Another long lost brother that Riggs never talked about before or knew about? And he gets his old job? Riiiiight 😒), I lost interest real quick. To the point where I lost interest in the show and didn’t really want to see it anymore. Lethal Weapon without the 2 movie characters...just isn’t Lethal Weapon. Especially if they kill off Riggs, like it seems they will. No offence to Seann William Scott, I’ve liked some of his work, but will the show now be a comedy? Or will he virtually take on Riggs’ demons and bring all the serious drama to the show? I’m just not interested in seeing another character like Riggs, but not Riggs himself. Clayne Crawford really was the breakout star of the show, can’t say at all that Damon Wayans or his family on the show was why I watched. It was all about Riggs, and well as the two of them together. I enjoyed the captain on the show too.

But now with Damon Wayans outburst and not only blasting Clayne, but then even blasting Warner Brothers for not defending him, and then blasting fans and telling them to “kiss the dark side of my ass”...I kind of hope that the show ends up getting cancelled now. Especially since Wayans admits he only now decided to make these posts after season 3 was secured. I’d kind of laugh my ass off if Warner Brothers and Fox comes back with, “oops...changed our minds, there won’t be a season 3 after all”. Especially considering the backlash the studios have gotten for this whole mess. With this huge backlash, and the bigger mess that Wayans just made it, I would be surprised if season 3 even lasted to the mid-season. They’re going to lose a whole mess of viewers, not just because Riggs is gone, but because Wayans just made the whole thing worse. He tainted the show with his outburst. And it just seems petty AF. I mean it seems like he not only wants to speak out and “defend himself”, but it seems like he really wants to not only ruin Crawford’s life and reputation, but ruin his career too. I mean what’s the point? He won. He got him fired, he’s off the show, they hired someone else. Why make this all public?

There are lots of rumours going around, like about Wayans being jealous that Crawford became the star of the show and why people tuned in, and how he was so jealous he wanted him off the show because he wanted to be the star, and some say he also threatened a lawsuit to get him fired because of his “injury” during an accident from a stunt that he says Crawford intentionally made it so he would get injured. Wayans was the bigger star, he’s been in this business for decades and comes from a very famous family of comedians and entertainers. Crawford was pretty much unknown. At least I’ve never heard of him before, or seen any of his work (not that I know of). If it’s true he got jealous of the large fanbase Crawford got and how everyone pretty much just talked about Riggs all the time - I can see that happening.

It just all makes no sense. Wayans makes it sound like Crawford was tyrannical, that he made everyone’s life hell on set and he was hated by everyone. And also insinuated that Crawford intentionally caused the stunt to go wrong to where Wayons would end up with that small cut on his head. But then you see not only supportive tweets, but also multiple liked tweets by his castmates. A lot of Crawford’s co-stars from Lethal Weapon and other shows have come forward saying how great he was, Kevin Rahm even RT’d that post by Hillarie Burton saying how amazing he was. Jordana Brewster and Kesha Sharpe have also liked multiple tweets in support of Crawford. Hell even Wayans made no sense, first tweeting messages making light of replacements for Riggs, then doing a 180 and posting supportive tweets of Crawford, then turning around and saying he was hacked, and then making his twitter private before going on a rant about how Crawford was a terror. None of this makes sense. Especially considering Crawford not only admitted to some issues on set and apologized for his behaviour, but then even congratulated the cast on season 3 and wished them luck! Pretty classy move. It’s like, it just doesn’t make sense. Crawford appears to be a class act, while Wayans is the one going on rants, telling people off, etc. Oh, and then Wayans even brought race into it, by saying that Crawford assaulted Lance Henriksen, “a white man”. Is he insinuating Crawford is racist? Or something else?

It’s just all so crazy, the show is getting so much hate and backlash, and some of the cast aren’t helping things now. It’s a shame.

[–] RogueDemonHunter (2684) 7 years ago

Yeah. Wayans is a two faced little bitch. Obviously Crawford is no angel but Wayans is acting so pathetically.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

It’s just insane the stuff he tweeted. Why make it public? To “defend himself”? Please. There were articles before the firing saying how it was Damon who was the diva on set. http://deadline.com/2018/04/lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-damon-wayans-turmoil-bad-blood-1202375855/ How he refused to do table reads, would show up late, he even didn’t show up for the first day that Clayne was directing that one episode. That put everyone behind, I’m sure the crew was annoyed with him for that. Then he got that small cut on his head the second day when he did show up, and was sent home. Apparently he even refused medical attention after it happened because it was so minor. Then he comes back the next day with all these restrictions - including not wanting to hold a gun (what the hell? He does understand this is a buddy cop show right? Show where he regularly uses his gun. Wtf?) it just seems nuts. He made Clayne’s life hell during the episode he directed, probably because he hated that Clayne got to direct an episode in the first place.

Accidents happen on movie and TV sets all the time. Especially with shrapnel, you can’t predict where shrapnel will go. And when you do stunts regularly on a show, there’s an expectation that things can go wrong, things can happen and people could get injured. It’s a risk you take. But to put all the blame squarely on Clayne, and not the stunt coordinators, or producers or anyone else from the production, just seems rich. There are many actors who have been injured on the job. Leonardo DiCaprio sliced his hand open on Django Unchained, Dylan O’Brien had a serious hand injury on his franchise set, Tom Cruise broken his ankle on set, so many others. In fact, there’s even a list: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_and_television_accidents Damon just seems petty, and is acting like a diva.

Honestly, I’ve just lost respect for Damon Wayans now. Not just for the stuff he’s said, but his total lack of professionalism.

[–] sslssg (34330) 7 years ago

I really hope it just gets cancelled now.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

Same. It’s just completely tainted now. Damon’s tweets show he pushed for him to get fired, and he played a part in it. Showing those supposed stickers on set....would that not create a hostile work environment for Clayne, if true? And the sticker looked brand new, like he has just slapped it on a pole and took the picture. Damon claims Clayne also hit another actor in the flash with a glass bottle, which caused injury....yet there are no stories anywhere about that happening. Wouldn’t that be a 3rd incident? But yet the only incidents that were made public were the 2 that Clayne owned up to and took responsibility for. It just all seems so nuts.

And did you hear, the studio is only bringing the show back with 13 episodes? I hope Damon is happy that he effectively just got his show cancelled, because that’s what’s going to happen. The show is toxic now. There is so much backlash about Clayne being fired, and everyone knows Damon had everything to do with it. The fact that Clayne has received so much support online, not just from fans but even from crew members, cast members and old colleagues, that says a lot. I’m sure Damon hates all that. It’s just pure jealousy, that’s what it looks like. And while Seann William Scott isn’t a bad actor, he’s walking onto a sinking ship. It’s just a shame that a once great show took such a toxic turn.

[–] sslssg (34330) 7 years ago

I'm just wondering why Wayans has so much more support from the Network. I don't think that we will ever really know the whole story. It's just as shame as I actually liked this show.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

Well one story I heard is that he brought in lawyers and threatened a lawsuit over his injury. If that’s true, I can see why the studio backed him and fired Crawford. Although Damon even blames the studio for not defending him, in one of his rants. If they fired Damon, he would have sued and it would have been a huge mess. If Damon threatened a lawsuit and said he refused to work with Clayne again, he pretty much put the studio in a corner. It’s turned into a huge mess anyways.

You should read the tweets from https://mobile.twitter.com/BTSinHollywood they make some valid arguments and points. Damon lawyering up and threatening a lawsuit could indeed be what happened.

Crawford is the star of the show, although he’s pretty much unknown to a lot of people. Damon was the original star of the show before it even aired, having the bigger career and name recognition, not to mention coming from a very famous and funny family. But Crawford, an unknown, was the one everyone ended up talking about. Maybe Damon hated that and got jealous, who knows. It’s all just crazy what’s happened.

[–] TandyMan (11120) 7 years ago

Sounds pretty toxic. I'm sure Wayans wasn't happy about Crawford's break out success. But that's the Riggs role. He's the cowboy, he's the fun one. I'm over the whole thing. It was a good show but it was never going to replace the movies. Every other show I watch got canceled too, so this will be easy to let go.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

Very toxic. Damon Wayans just basically tanked his own show, just because he didn’t like the attention Clayne Crawford was getting. Pathetic. I truly hope that WB or FOX turn around and cancel the show, because of Damon. It would be poetic justice.

Apparently he’s back on Instagram, although his twitter is still deleted. Just saw someone post a screengrab of one of his latest posts https://mobile.twitter.com/eivoMSeb/status/997733669627465729

is that yet another attempt at bringing race into this again? “#riseabovetheWHITEnoise”???? Does he think this is a race issue? Because Clayne is white and Damon is black? Is that why he thinks people are on Clayne’s side? I’ve even seen some of Damon’s defenders (who Michelle....Bailey on the show liked the tweets from) saying how no black man has the power to get a white actor fired. Damon even tweeted around the time of his Twitter meltdown that “white people dont fire white people over black people!” https://mobile.twitter.com/atticus1111/status/995117201148571648

this is just a mess. As much as Damon wants to believe it, this isn’t an issue about race or skin colour. This is NO ONE siding with Damon (except Michelle, who then deleted the tweets after she was called out for lying, and being constantly late to set and unprepared by not knowing her lines), and EVERYONE siding with Clayne. Even current and old co-workers have come to his defence. Even Damon’s tv wife and daughter had nice things to say about Clayne, same with Jordana Brewster and Hillarie Burton. Not to mention Kevin Rahm too. And then there’s everyone else Clayne worked with on other shows and movies. Damon is the only one with bad things to say. So if he was as toxic and an “emotional terrorist” like Damon claims, who everyone hated....why is it that no one is backing him up? It makes no sense. If Clayne really was that bad, co-workers and crew wouldn’t be defending him. And they wouldn’t have let him direct either.

[–] TandyMan (11120) 7 years ago

There was a ton of flack from the production of Last Boy Scout between Damon and Bruce. Now Bruce is a notorious asshole to work with. But it really seems like Damon has serious issues with dominate and successful white men. Hollywood is still an industry predominately run by rich white jews. Race IS a factor in everything. And gender. That's just the way it is. Wayans is a big star. He has clout. And he's been in the business too long to be a cog in a wheel. I have no doubt he laid down the Him or Me hammer. He can afford to break his contract. Onward and upward. Crawford is gonna be a huge star, he's just getting started. This is Wayan's potential retirement ticket. Truth is, if Riggs and Murtagh were real people, this is always what would have happened.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

Although race (and gender) might be a factor for some things, I dont think it applies all the time. And in this case, Damon is the one bringing race into it. No one else. People saying Damon doesn’t have that kind of power just because he’s black doesn’t add up, because he was the headlining actor in the show. No one knew who Clayne was before the show, or at least most people didn’t. Damon comes from a very famous and funny family.

But since this whole thing blew up, other stuff is coming back to light too. Like the fact that Damon was apparently fired from SNL. Damon also defending Bill Cosby and saying he didn’t rape women, and then calling the victims bitches, ugly and “unrapeable” came to light. Not to mention him telling off fans on twitter.

Fact is, if other people corroborated what Damon said this would be a non-issue. People wouldn’t be supporting Clayne if other people came out and said it was true. But the opposite is happening. Damon’s own co-stars on set are siding with Clayne. If Clayne really was a terror on set, why would his co-stars defend him at all? Damon’s own tv wife and daughter only had nice things to say about Clayne, Jordana Brewster, Hilarie Burton and Kevin Rahm also showed their support. His stunt double too, same with some crew members. Even guest stars showed support for Clayne, not to mention old co-workers. It just doesn't add up.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

What makes no sense too, is that they film episodes months in advance. So these “incidents” Damon claims happened, they happened probably last year or very early this year. But yet he said nothing for months. It wasn’t until the episode Clayne directed was aired that all of a sudden this drama all started, and the first articles were being posted. So why wasn’t this brought up back then? Why wait until the episode airs months later? What, did Damon get PTSD from the scratch/tiny cut that he decided to spread stories about Clayne being reprimanded?

Funny how the Deadline article even said how much a diva Damon was on set - refusing to do table reads and pulling his star power to get special treatment and perks. For people to say Damon had no power are kidding themselves. Even when they advertised the show, they didn’t even mention Clayne. It was basically the Damon Wayans show. It wasn’t until the Riggs character got popular, that Damon started being overshadowed, and they used Clayne for all the promo.

Also, making Murtaugh captain out of the blue made no sense, and is just plain dumb. Riggs and Murtaugh were always getting in trouble, yet they want us to believe they now wanted to put Murtaugh in charge? I liked the captain they had with Kevin Rahm, they should have kept it that way. Making Murtaugh captain out of the blue...I wonder if that was WB trying to appease Damon. 😒

[–] TandyMan (11120) 7 years ago

Well, not rocking the boat and speaking your mind until it's safe to do so is just Hollywood. I don't grudge that.

The fact that Clayne was directing an episode at all so early is pretty shocking. That alone says what a threat he was with growing star power. In a few years he might have been made key producer. It happens. Damon may have made a strategic decision to keep the show his. Life is just a big game of Survivor.

As for the injury, that small cut could have easily been a blind eye. Or even death. Look what happened to Brandon Lee. He's totally right to be insane about that.

LOL yeah, the captain storyline is total horseshit. THAT is what makes it clear to me this show was making changes well before any official info was released. I think big decisions were made at the time of the incident and all parties were well informed.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

True. But why wait until,the episode airs to even put the story out there? This should have been brought up back then, when it was being filmed. The fact they waited until now to bring it up is suspicious.

Also true. Directing an episode in season 2 is pretty insane. I’ve watched many shows and you usually don’t see actors directing an episode until season 4 or 5, even we’ll known actors. Every so often it happens, but for a relative unknown like Clayne? Unlikely. Jonny Lee Miller didn’t even direct an episode of Elementary until recently. Lucy Liu first got that honour at the end of season 2, and some other episodes. Lucy Liu though is much more well known than JLM. Damon surely felt threatened by Clayne getting that honour so early on. Damon hasn’t even directed an episode of Lethal Weapon yet. That says a lot.

As for the injury, yes of course it could have been worse. But to put all the blame on Clayne, and even suggest it was intentional and wasn’t an accident? The only way it would be Clayne’s fault, was if he told the stunt coordinator and safety people not to be on set - like Quentin Tarantino did, or that director from a few years ago who was responsible for that one poor lady being hit by a train. Having an effect go wrong though isn’t solely the director’s fault, and to claim it was intentional is libellous. Lots of actors get hurt on sets, Wikipedia even has a list of all of them.

As for the captain thing, who knows. Does Murtaugh being captain mean Kevin Rahm will be out too? I don’t think Clayne knew his firing was coming. Damon’s flip-flopping on Clayne before his meltdown also doesn’t show he knew Clayne was being fired. If they knew, why not just end on Clayne’s funeral, showing he was off the show entirely? But they were definitely hinting at changes coming.

[–] funkychicken (613) 6 years ago

Damon is such a whiner.

He's really not that good on the show either.