Ice Cube has lost out on a $9million payday as he departed comedy film Oh Hell No after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The 52-year-old West Coast hip-hop legend – real name O’Shea Jackson Sr. – exited Sony’s comedy after declining a request from producers to get vaccinated according to a Friday report from The Hollywood Reporter.
The Friday actor would have starred opposite comedy legend Jack Black in the project which was announced back in June.
Big loss: Ice Cube (seen in December 2018) has lost out on a $9million payday as he departed comedy film Oh Hell No after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine according to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday
Sony, Cube’s rep, and his agency WME all declined comment to the publication.
The film – which is being produced by Matt Tolmach – was looking to shoot this winter in Hawaii with director Kitao Sakurai who is best known for his work on Netflix comedy Bad Trip.
Hawaii recently became the first state in the US to administer COVID-19 vaccines to 90percent of its residents 12 and older and producers had requested that all cast be vaccinated to work on the project.
Taking a stand: The 52-year-old West Coast hip-hop legend – real name O’Shea Jackson Sr. – exited Sony’s comedy after declining a request from producers to get vaccinated
Hilarious: The Friday actor would have starred opposite comedy legend Jack Black (seen in December 2019) in the project which was announced back in June
Keeping mum: Sony, Cube’s rep, and his agency WME all declined comment to the publication
The Hollywood Reporter has been told that Sony is in the process of finding a replacement for Cube.
Production on the film has also been pushed back as Black had injured himself back in June while filming a bit for the last episode of Conan but still work on the project.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Cube has promoted mask wearing and even donated 2,000 protective face masks to Bacone College in Oklahoma back in August.
In April 2020, he even unveiled a ‘Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self’ range of clothing which featured the rapper in a mask with proceeds benefiting frontline healthcare workers.
Quite the gesture: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Cube (seen in February 2020) has promoted mask wearing and even donated 2,000 protective face masks to Bacone College in Oklahoma back in August
Sweet: In April 2020, he even unveiled a ‘Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self’ range of clothing which featured the rapper in a mask with proceeds benefiting frontline healthcare workers
Vaccinations on set among cast and crew has become an issue on multiple film and television projects in Hollywood.
Back in June, it a statement was release that the the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the industry’s top guilds – which include SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, The DGA, and Teamsters – had agreed to ease protocols for fully vaccinated cast and crew.
The agreement stated that producers will have the option ‘to implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A’ — where cast and crew work in close proximity — ‘on a production-by-production basis.’
