Jeremy Tardy will be leaving Dear White People ahead of its fourth and final season, the star announced on social media.
The 29-year-old actor, who was recurring as Rashid Bakr on the show, revealed that his reason for not returning is due to racial discrimination.
While he accused them of the discrimination, Lionsgate, who produces the series, says it was nothing more than a financial situation.
Jeremy, alongside six other recurring cast members, banded together to get a pay raise and collectively passed on the initial offer in an effort to negotiate better deals as a group.
However, the strategy backfired when a few of them made side deals with the studio “before the collective group received a fair and equitable negotiation process.”
This resulted in Jeremy being written out of the show.
“After being offered to return for several episodes my team was notified that our counter offer would not be considered and that the initial offer was the ‘best and final.’ This news was disturbing because one of my white colleagues — being a true ally — revealed that they too had received the same initial offer and had successfully negotiated a counter offer,” Jeremy wrote to his fans on Twitter.
He continued, “My team expressed this issue to Lionsgate and the producers maintained their position that the white actor was able to negotiate while I was not- regardless of my credits and experience. With this information six recurring cast members, along with myself, banded together on Monday, August 30th to pass on Lionsgate’s initial offers.”
Click inside to see his full thread about the situation here…More Here! »
