Orlando Jones Says the ‘American Gods’ Showrunner Who Fired Him Is a ‘Wigga’ and ‘Culture Vulture White Guy’

Actor Orlando Jones spoke with SiriusXM host Clay Cane to discuss being fired from the American Gods and slams the “culture vulture white guy” showrunner as “wigga” who talks in a “quote unquote blackcent.”

The #ClayCaneShow welcomes @TheOrlandoJones!@claycane #ClayNation pic.twitter.com/0v6W2ZdIhn

— SiriusXM Urban View (@SXMUrbanView) December 19, 2019

After two seasons as trickster god Anansi, aka Mr. Nancy, on the Fremantle-produced show based on Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed 2001 novel, and one troubled season as a writer and producer, Jones took to social media this weekend to say he was suddenly fired from the series in September as it prepared to go into production for Season 3.

Starz maintains that Orland was not fired but that his contract hadn’t been renewed. A sentiment echoed by  creator Neil Gaiman.

Orlando is an astonishing actor, and as a writer/producer was vital in helping get us through Season 2 of American Gods. I'm so glad he got to be part of the American Gods family. (And no, I don't have a say in contractual renewals etc.) https://t.co/5hxGnyEqN9

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 15, 2019

“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,” the Sleepy Hollow alum claimed in a video posted on December 14, aimed at new showrunner Charles “Chic” Eglee without ever actually mentioning the Walking Dead veteran by name. “I mean, what else could it be?”

While not mentioning him by name, the showrunner in question would appear to be Jesse Alexander, who’s been sidelines at the Starz show.

At one point, Orlando says, “Culture vulture white guy is running around with a Black Panther t-shirt on talking like you Black, acting like you black, thinking you blacker than Black people. You’re playing that whole game, which is the only reason you would run your ass around and say something is crazy as Mr. Nancy’s bad for Black America and clearly there’s nobody around to correct you. There’s nobody of color around you who feels they have the guts to say, ‘Hey sir, you probably shouldn’t say that you write from a black male perspective. You’re like a 60 plus year old white man. Are you serious right now?”

https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/1206388059731836929

Cane responded,  “So wait, this producer was literally walking around with a Black Panther shirt and talking in a quote unquote “blackcent?” He was doing that?”

Jones, “If you ask anybody about who the season three showrunner is, the two things that they will tell you is that he is a white man and he thinks he’s black. He wears Stay Woke hats and Black Panther t-shirts and sunglasses. Dresses like old school Run DMC type of deal. Look at the pictures. He’s white, but it’s one of those white guys who talks like a Black guy. I don’t have any problems with somebody who’s a fan of the culture, but that doesn’t make you Black”.

Jones said of  [Alexander], “He was put in that position and clearly they didn’t let me go because the studio and the network didn’t agree to it. So you hired a guy who I’m going to use a word, I don’t mean to offend anybody. If you are offended, get over it. I’ve been called everything in the book. I don’t give offense, you take offense. That’s how this works. So I’m going to throw “wigger” in the air, alright? You claim it as your own. I wasn’t talking to you “wigga” I was just talking. So you got this guy who that’s his behavior, that’s how he presents himself and you guys chose to hand this into this person’s hands because you thought that was a good idea. When he said to you that he wanted to get rid of the Muslim gay character guy, and the angry black God guy, and the new whatever Asian, you need to get rid of her and I don’t care about that Sam black girl character. I don’t care about it. Whatever. Here’s what I want to do. I want to do a doff metal and I’m going to get like Marilyn Manson, who’s really death metal, do like a God like that, and that’s what he did, and that’s no disrespect to Marilyn Manson. That’s what he did.”

Cane then asks Orlando, “Are you going to fight back legally?”

To which Jones responded, “I think those have to be thoughtful decisions, and I also think that it’s more important to look at what you want the outcome to be. So, you’ll hear soon enough, it won’t be long, but at the end of the day I always try and be mindful and thoughtful and encourage others to be thoughtful in those decisions. So, I’m not going to spit it out here like it’s not an important thing to consider when people make these types of moves.”

Listen to the full interview below.