Jason Mitchell Blames Sexual Harassment Claims On “The Chi’s” Showrunner, Insinuates Nothing Happened Between He & Tiffany Boone: “She would’ve told me about myself”

Jason Mitchell, Tiffany Boone

Jason Mitchell Blames Sexual Harassment Claims on “The Chi’s” Showrunner, Insinuates Nothing Happened Between He and Tiffany Boone: “She would’ve told me about myself”

Actor Jason Mitchell is opening up about being fired from Lena Waithe‘s series, “The Chi,” for reportedly sexually harassing co-star, Tiffany Boone. Tiffany Boone reportedly filed several complaints to the show’s showrunner, Ayanna Floyd-Davis, regarding inappropriate advances from Jason. He was also accused of misconduct from several other women on set. 

Jason Mitchell

However, Jason Mitchell seems to be unclear on what interactions Showtime, Netflix, and his agency UTA are referring to when dropping him from their platforms. In fact, he hinted that the allegations were a cover-up for Tiffany Boone accepting another role elsewhere. Jason Mitchell says,

“Well, it’s crazy ’cause there actually was no situation with Tiffany Boone. Shout out to Tiffany Boone, by the way, too, because she was put in a position. Because this lady, Ayanna Floyd-Davis, she did come out and go to Deadline, and made a statement for Tiffany Boone; also, I guess, said some things about ‘Desperados,’ and she had a lot to say. But she was the only person that ever made a statement at all. So I was a little taken back by the whole situation that happened, but the actual reason I got let go was because Disney saw what was going on with ‘Desperados,’ and they just bought Showtime. So they decided not to pick up my option, and of course I’ve been on the show for – what was about to be – three seasons. I was nominated for an award, so I was asking for more money, and all these different sorts of things. So they weren’t down to do it.”

Jason Mitchell, Tiffany Boone on set of ‘The Chi’

He continued, adding that if he interacted with Tiffany Boone inappropriately, she would have told him:

“To be honest – and I really hate to say this, ’cause I’m all for the #MeToo movement. I have two beautiful daughters who I would like to be in the business…but I think in this situation, Iyana tried to use it as a really, really ugly weapon. Tiffany Boone left the show because she got a better job, basically. She put in two seasons with us, and she moved on to get a better job…anybody that knows Tiffany Boone knows that she is – I guess for lack of expression – the epitome of a Black woman. If you try her, she will get you together right then and there…had me and Tiffany had a situation where she felt sexually harassed, I can bet my bottom dollar that she would’ve told me about myself in that moment.”

Jason Mitchell went on to blame the entire debacle on “The Chi’s showrunner, Ayanna, claiming that Tiffany Boone never filed complaints against him:

“Tiffany’s never went to HR! Tiffany’s never made a statement- she’s never done any of those things…I feel like it was a thing that came from Ayanna.”

Jason Mitchell, Tiffany Boone

However, he also revealed that he and his co-star didn’t get along:

“Me and Tiffany have never really been the best of friends. So season one – maybe, like, episode three or four – we just told each other, ‘We just have a work relationship. We don’t gotta laugh, kick it, skate, none of that.’ Me and Tiffany have our different views on things, and that’s pretty much all it is. We’re both people that are very opinionated. And if we sit down and have a conversation, we could go back and forth all day…our spirits don’t jam.”

When asked to explicitly explain what happened to get him kicked off both “The Chi” and Netflix’s, “Desperados”, he responded:

“Well, to be honest, I’m not 100 percent sure what the allegations themselves were. But, I can tell you what happened. What happened was with ‘Desperados,’ we were in pre-production and I went out with a co-worker of mine, and she got drunk! And, you know, being the person that I am, I felt responsible to make sure she got home. ‘Cause they’re already telling us, like, ‘Don’t take the Ubers, don’t truth these people, don’t jump in a cab- don’t do any of that.’ So, I make sure she got home, and the next day it kind of all slapped me in my face. You know what I’m sayin? ‘Cause I’m not sure if her and her significant other had a situation- because I did FaceTime her boyfriend to figure out, like, how to get there, and go about getting her home.”

“I actually had a girlfriend at the time, too, as well. So I felt like I was doing the right thing. But the next day- you know, they cancelled rehearsal and everything. And they came to me and they were like, ‘Jason, we need to talk to you about this activity that went on.’ So I told them my side of the story, but it still felt as if- you know, I don’t know if there was something that I missed or…they weren’t exactly specific with me about anything. And I was a little baffled by that, but they did pay me in full before I left.”

He went on to apologize for inappropriate interactions that he’s unaware of:

“…I just wanna jump out there and say- for anybody that’s been around me they know that I’m one of the most loving, sweet people in the world. But if I did do anything, say anything, make anybody feel any kind of way- you have my deepest apologies…because that was never my attention to make anybody feel any sort of way. I’ve definitely never put my hands on somebody or anything like that. But I think it was just, sort of, a series of events that led to kind of being weird between us. And I think that Netflix just, kind of, made an executive decision to send me home.”

Written by Miata Shanay