American actress, Gabrielle Union has been relieved of her role as a judge on the televised American talent competition, ‘America’s Got Talent.’
Her dismissal has come as a surprise to many as she only replaced longtime judge, Melanie Brown last season.
The reasons for her dismissal remain unclear, however, reports suggest she was fired after speaking out against some “problematic” situations that were taking place behind-the-scenes of the popular talent competition series, including racism, sexism and more.
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Despite an NBC spokesperson stating that Union’s departure was as a result of her busy schedule, they failed to respond to claims that she was fired over an alleged misunderstanding.
“[Union’s] contract was not renewed after being the No. 1 talent on the show, NBA and network TV,” a source from NBC told BET about her departure.
“They only replace the women and Blacks at Simon [Cowell’s] whim. She wouldn’t walk away from $12 million because she’s busy,” the source added.
Union’s dismissal isn’t an isolated case as co-judge Julianne Hough will also not be returning for the next season.
In 2017, former host Nick Cannon claimed he was “threatened with termination by executives” after calling out NBC’s racial bias during a stand-up special.
The comedian and entrepreneur eventually decided to quit his hosting duties on the show in February 2017.
Cannon was immediately replaced by model Tyra Banks who in turn was replaced by Terry Crews.
