‘9-1-1’ Actor Rockmond Dunbar Leaves Hit Series Over Vaccine Mandate

Rockmond Dunbar

‘9-1-1’ Actor Rockmond Dunbar Leaves Hit Series Over Vaccine Mandate

It looks like the drama series ‘9-1-1’ is down a cast member over COVID vaccine regulations.

Actor Rockmond Dunbar, 48, was written off of the popular Fox first-responders series ‘9-1-1’ for not receiving the COVID vaccine. Rockmond Dunbar has been a part of the show since its premiere in 2018 and he portrays Michael Grant, who is the ex-husband of Angela Bassett’s character Athena Grant. Rockmond Dunbar’s last appearance on the show was during Monday night’s (Nov. 15) episode.

Rockmond Dunbar, Angela Bassett

‘9-1-1’ is produced by Disney TV Studios’ 20th Television, which requires all actors involved in their productions to be vaccinated. According to reports, Rockmond Dunbar requested a medical COVID exemption and later a religious exemption from the network. Both were reportedly reviewed by Disney but were ultimately denied. Despite not receiving the COVID vaccine, Dunbar is not believed to be an anti-vaxxer.

Rockmond Dunbar

The ‘Prison Break’ actor released a statement confirming his exit from the show.

“I applied for religious and medical accommodations pursuant to the law and unfortunately was denied by my employer. My sincerely held beliefs and private medical history are very intimate and personal aspects of my life that I do not publicly discuss and have no desire to start now. I’ve been an actor in this business for 30 years, but my greatest roles are as a husband and father to our 4 small children. As a man that walks in faith, I look forward to what the future holds.”

He added,

“I have enjoyed the last 5 seasons with this wonderful cast and crew and will cherish the time I’ve been blessed to spend with this series and wish everyone involved nothing but the best.“

A spokesman for 20th Television also released a statement and said,

“We take the health and safety of all of our employees very seriously and have implemented a mandatory vaccination confirmation process for those working in Zone A on our productions. In order to ensure a safer workplace for all, Zone A personnel who do not confirm their vaccination status and do not meet the criteria for exemption will not be eligible to work.”

According to reports, ‘9-1-1’ producers purposely left Dunbar’s character storyline open-ended just in case the vaccination issue is resolved and the actor is able to return to the series.

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