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Cape Town – There seems to be more behind the story of Gabrielle Union leaving America's Got Talent.
The 47-year-old was a first-time judge on the 14th season of the reality competition show.
On Friday news broke that Gabrielle and fellow first-time judge Julianne Hough would not be returning for another season.
Trade publication Variety published an exclusive report on Tuesday claiming that the actress expressed concern over "offensive" incidents that took place on the set.
One of the alleged incidents happened when Jay Leno visited the AGT office and made an inappropriate joke. Gabrielle reportedly urged producers to report the incident to HR at the network, but it was allegedly never taken further.
The report also claimed that both Gabrielle and Julianne "received excessive notes on their physical appearance".
According to Vulture Gabrielle, since she started on the show earlier this year, raised a myriad of concerns with the NBC producers, including: alleged racism, misgendering and various other issues. However, the complaints allegedly never escalated, according to sources.
A spokesperson for NBC and the production company Fremantle said in a statement that: "America's Got Talent has a long history of inclusivity and diversity in both our talent and the acts championed by the show. The judging and host line-up has been regularly refreshed over the years, and that is one of the reasons for AGT's enduring popularity. NBC and the producers take any issues on set seriously," reports People.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Gabrielle's husband former basketball player Dwyane Wade came to her defence. In one of them he expressed that he was proud of her for standing up for what she believes in and called her the number one judge on one of the biggest shows in the world.
SEE THE TWEETS HERE:
“Men lie, Women lie, numbers don’t” Over this past year I’ve been approached by many people saying that my wife @itsgabrielleu is the main reason they’ve started watching #AGT or that they love her insight and sincerity on the show.
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 27, 2019
So when i got the news that my wife was being fired—my first question was obviously why!? Iam still waiting on a good answer to that question. But if anyone knows @itsgabrielleu or have heard of her you know she’s an advocate for our community and culture.
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 27, 2019
As proud as i were of her being selected as a judge on #AGT— Iam even more proud of her standing up for what she stands for and that’s US.
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 27, 2019
So ?? to you @itsgabrielleu on not losing sight of the lessons we’ve talked about teaching our daughter and for kicking ass while you were on that platform. Number 1 judge on one of the biggest shows in the world??
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) November 27, 2019
Gabrielle later thanked everyone for their support on Twitter. She wrote: "So many tears, so much gratitude. Thank you! Just when you feel lost, adrift, alone, you got me up off the ground. Humbled and thankful, forever."
Compiled by Leandra Engelbrecht (Sources: Variety, Vulture, People, Twitter).
