Donald Glover ‘Cried’ Behind Fans Disappointment Surrounding Changes Made To ‘Atlanta’ For Season 3: ‘It Made Me Very Sad’

Donald Glover

Donald Glover ‘Cried’ Behind Fans Disappointment Surrounding Changes Made To ‘Atlanta’ For Season 3: ‘It Made Me Very Sad’

Season three of ‘Atlanta’ put Donald Glover under a lot of pressure.

Recently, Donald Glover – also known as rapper Childish Gambino – admitted that the scrutiny he received from fans for season three of his comedy-drama TV series ‘Atlanta’ made him shed a few tears. In an interview published on Tuesday (Apr. 4) the rapper-turned-television producer shared:

“I knew season three wasn’t easy. We all knew it wasn’t easy. We knew opening the season without [any of the cast] was going to make people f*ck*ng mad and be like, ‘What the f*ck?’ It felt like you’re climbing and you’re climbing to get to the top where the light is.  And when you get there, you can do whatever dance you want. And that’s what everybody’s fighting for.”

Donald Glover

Viewers were reportedly upset that the third season was noticeably different from the previous ones, which placed Donald Glover into a bit of a funk because he put his all into his art.  The 39-year-old said:

“I think with me specifically, people never give me the benefit of the doubt. And I needed to see for me. This has nothing to do with the art, because I made sure that the art was good. But it really was a personal exploration just for me. No one else knows this, but I was like, Did I make it? Did I make it to the Kanye and the Quentin Tarantino and the Scorsese level? I do think people will go back and be like, This season is good. I wasn’t ever worried about that.”

He continued:

“Like with Wes Anderson, there’s different rules. This n*gg* never makes money. It’s not about the money. It’s because a certain group of people are like, ‘This is important.’ And I was like, ‘Are Black people at a point now where they can do that on their own?’”

Glover then revealed that the negative feedback he received surrounding the season made him “very sad.” 

 “It made me very sad. I cried. I did. Not like, ‘You guys, this is really good.’ It’s like what Prince said when U2 won best album. He was like, ‘If y’all wanted me to make that album, I could have. U2 couldn’t make Sign o’ the Times.’”

He added:

“But I know the character I am in culture and in Black culture—and that it doesn’t feel good coming from me. And also like, I don’t feel good saying sh*t like that. I’d much rather lay on the empathy.”

Although the critics got to his head, Glover seemingly doesn’t regret his decision to create the art he wants to see in the world.  The actor shared:

“We deserve something that isn’t easy for everyone to digest all the time.”

Childish Gambino

The FX television series is about a college dropout/music manager – played by Glover – and a rapper’s journey throughout Atlanta’s hip-hop culture. “Atlanta” has won two Golden Globe awards, one NAACP Image award, and two Primetime Emmy awards. 

Glover also recently opened up about how happy he is that he never made it on the cast of  “Saturday Night Live,” after auditioning in 2007 and 2009.  As previously reported, the “Swarm” producer shared:

“I dodged so many bullets. Me being on ‘SNL’ would’ve killed me. I got friends who made it on ‘SNL’ and, at the time, I was like, ‘d*mn.’ But if I got on ‘SNL,’ my career wouldn’t have happened.”

He added:

“And thank God, thank God I didn’t get some of those pilots. I wanted so desperately to be on ‘Parks and Rec’ because it was the cool, hipster show. I am the bullet dodger. I feel like Samuel L. Jackson in ‘Pulp Fiction.’ That wasn’t a mistake, you know? God did that.”

Did you watch season three of ‘Atlanta’? If so, what are your thoughts on it? Tell us below!

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