The drama surrounding former Lethal Weapon star Clayne Crawford's public ousting hit an eye-opening new level thanks to a flurry of accusatory social media posts from current co-lead Damon Wayans, whose on-set feud with Crawford has been the subject of much reporting. In a series of now-removed tweets, Wayans fully addressed the controversy surrounding the injury he suffered during the Crawford-directed Season 2 episode, and also shined a brighter light on how widespread and recognized Crawford's alleged behavior was around the set.
First, Damon Wayans posted a video of the special effects explosion which led to a piece of shrapnel hitting him in the head. The actor's reason for posting is that while the explosion happened to his right, it was the left side of his head that got struck. He followed the video up with a goofy conspiracy theory-esque post about there being a "second shooter" to his left that "accounts for what he heard from his left side," but the humor shouldn't take away from the star's sincerity. This incident going public was one of the first times that Wayans and Crawford's tension boiled over and reached viewers' attention spans. Check out a screenshot of the post (via Deadline).
Claiming that he got no apologies from Clayne Crawford for the injury, Damon Wayans was using these posts in an attempt to balance the massive fan backlash that followed Crawford's firing and the replacement casting of Seann William Scott as co-lead. Which Wayans was able to do now that Fox has confirmed Lethal Weapon is returning for Season 3. Whenever the reports had first surfaced about Crawford's misconduct, the actor's response was largely tied to issues of on-set safety, where he painted himself to be a beacon of protection. So Wayans chose to attempt to debunk that side of things first.
Many fans who aren't aware of the full situation slammed the producers and the network -- which itself passed the buck on to production company Universal TV -- for disrupting the core pairing that basically defines Lethal Weapon. But with another post, Wayans revealed the most specifically damning claims yet against Clayne Crawford.
Damon Wayans called Clayne Crawford out for being "uninsurable," which is one of the rarer accusations that can come up in celebrity feuds. (Though it certainly makes sense here, since personal injuries are involved.) But clearly the more awkward implication made here is that one or more people were posting flyers around the set that called Crawford an "emotional terrorist," which is not something to be treated lightly. To back that claim up, Wayans claimed that Crawford relished in making women on the set cry, and that he caused other cast members and crew members to be fearful.
Clearly, the situation with Clayne Crawford has complications that viewers and fans just aren't privy to, and it'll take a lot more information to figure out all the rights and wrongs that went down. And in his parting message, Damon Wayans once again reminded vocally vitriolic fans that his co-star's exit was the result of many people coming forward, and not just him.
At this time, Fox is gearing up to bring Lethal Weapon to fans for Season 3, which is set to follow that cliffhanger with its shortened season this fall. Check out Fox's full fall schedule, and head to our summer premiere schedule to see what'll be showing up before then.
