Why did Brandon leave The Chi? Reason behind Jason Mitchell’s exit explored

The Chi fans were left shocked when Brandon, one of the main characters, was written off the show after two seasons. The Showtime drama premiered in 2018 and revolves around the lives of a group of people who live in the South Side of Chicago.

In their neighborhood, even minute actions could lead to major repercussions, including death. In the first two seasons of the drama, Brandon, played by Jason Mitchell, was at the center of the narrative.

As a budding chef, he acted as a mentor to the group, but later became a close ally to the problematic Douda. However, Brandon left The Chi as the character was killed off-screen between Seasons 2 and 3. In reality, actor Jason Mitchell was fired from the series due to sexual misconduct allegations.

The reason behind Brandon’s exit from The Chi

In the show, it was established that Brandon had died after the events of The Chi Season 2. In the Season 3 premiere, his funeral was depicted with his mother, Laverne, remembering her son and saying how the city took Brandon away from her.

The plot came as a shock to many, as there was no hint of his death in the Season 2 finale. Instead, he was planning to go against Douda while in prison when he was last seen in the series, and this storyline was abruptly cut short. While fans were waiting for his redemption arc in Season 3, the show instead moved into a new direction and started focusing on other characters.

What made the move even more surprising was that it was not explicitly mentioned what happened to Brandon and how he was killed. The Chi finally gave some answers in Season 4 when Laverne shot Douda seeking revenge for her son’s death. This hinted that the mayor had something to do with his murder, possibly because Brandon was planning to team up with the authorities to bring him down.

Why did Jason Mitchell leave The Chi?

Jason Mitchell did not leave The Chi on his own; instead, he was fired in April 2019. The actor faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which led to his removal. Tiffany Boone, who starred as Brandon’s girlfriend Jerrika Little, decided to leave the show after Season 2, alleging inappropriate behavior on Mitchell’s part.

The production team then looked into the matter and fired the actor. Instead of replacing Brandon, they decided to kill off the character and end his storyline in the series. Meanwhile, Mitchell was also removed from the Netflix film Desperados owing to the allegations, but the actor denied any wrongdoing.

During an appearance on The Breakfast Club in November 2019, he stated that the reason behind his removal from the show was that the production team did not want to pay the salary that he demanded:

“To be honest, I’m not 100% sure what the allegations were. Well, it’s crazy because there was actually no situation with Tiffany Boone…I’ve been on the show for (what) was about to be three seasons, I was nominated for awards and I was asking for money and all these different sorts of things, and they just weren’t down to do it.”

On the other hand, The Chi Season 2 showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis stated that she reported Mitchell’s indecent behavior to HR, which led to his firing. She said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in May 2019:

“[There were] issues between Jason Mitchell and Tiffany Boone from Season 1, and that Tiffany was thinking of leaving the show because of it. As a result of this information. I discussed Tiffany’s claims with the studio’s HR department … Ultimately, everyone was well aware of Jason’s behavior and his multiple HR cases.”

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Thus, Brandon was killed off in The Chi Season 3 because the creators decided to remove Jason Mitchell from the show owing to the misconduct allegations against him. Since his departure from the Showtime drama, Mitchell has not been seen in any TV show and has only appeared in a few films like Scarborn and Call Her King.

For more updates about The Chi, keep following Soap Central.

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