Thandie Newton was reportedly fired from the new Magic Mike film after Will Smith got into a heated argument with Channing Tatum on set about Chris Rock’s infamous Oscars SmackDown.
The feud between Newtown, 49, and Tatum, 41, took place in early April, The Sun reported, and escalated to such “astonishing” and “unimaginably vicious” levels that Tatum played the role of “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” in West London. Made a splash on the set and got into a car.
The report stated that the crew had been filming for 11 days before the dramatic turn of the incident.
The producers of the sequel eventually decided to recast the lead female role of Newton, who will now be played by Salma Hayek, according to Variety.
It was not clear from The Sun’s report when the epic was dusted off, or what positions Newton and Tatum took in their heated debate.
“Channing Tatum is the producer and number one on the set. Thandie Newton is the number two star. But 11 days into the shoot and it’s all over,” a member of the crew told the British tabloid.
“They passed out debacle at the Oscars. I was on set. I looked and saw him. They were in and out of the house where we were filming this clash.
“It was a tense exchange of words, but suddenly it escalated. Channing got into this car and he disappeared,” the source reportedly said, with Newton being a “diva” on set before the argument. behaved like
Following the controversy, Tatum, who played Magic Mike, declined to continue working with Newton on the HBO Max film.
“Line after line he just went, ‘I’m not working with him anymore.’ He being a producer, it is his film, so he is away from the film,” the source told The Sun.
The source reportedly said that director Steven Soderbergh tried to diffuse the situation, but to no avail.
“He was trying to calm things down but he’s a very calm guy.”
A spokesperson for the film studio issued a statement to Variety denying the report, claiming that Newton had left the film for personal reasons.
“Thandiway Newton has made the difficult decision to move away from producing Magic Mike’s Last Dance for Warner Bros. Pictures to deal with family matters,” the statement read.
Freelance crew members said they have already lost thousands of dollars in production delays.
The shakeup came after storming the set of “Army of Horny, Middle-aged Women” in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Tatum in Custom as an oiled male stripper.
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” is the third installment of the film series. Both films were widely popular, grossing approximately $300 million worldwide.
