Fired ‘Lethal Weapon’ Star Clayne Crawford Blasts ‘Blatant Lies’ in Profanity-Laced First Interview

Clayne Crawford is defending himself nearly four months after he was fired from Fox‘s reboot of Lethal Weapon regarding his on-set behavior.

On the Drinkin’ Bros podcast, he gave his side of the story of the infamous outburst that was said to have taken place while filming near a school in Los Angeles. In a video obtained by Variety, Crawford can be heard using explicit language while reprimanding the assistant director for the noise level.

“I knew that they had those tapes, and they had been blackmailing me with that… anytime I had a problem with [Damon Wayans],” Crawford explains, per TVLine, going on to explain that Wayans refused to attend table reads or shoot at certain locations. “When the incident happened, I had to pay half of my salary for that episode, I had to spend six weeks in anger management every day on my lunch break, and I had to be escorted to and from set by a security guard, so it was humiliating.”

He even went on to say that any accusations of him yelling at children that day at a nearby pool is a “blatant f—ing lie.”

“Clearly I’m yelling at the guy whose job it is to get the set quiet,” he said. “And here’s the thing: Did I make a poor choice? Absolutely, and I felt embarrassed in the moment because I was belligerent… We’d been shooting a three-page scene for eight hours, OK? We were so behind, and we continued to try and shoot through all of this noise… We stopped production over seven times. I called my agent, we were writing emails, we were phoning everyone we could to try and help us resolve the situation. No one would come in, no one would help us… So I shot all of my coverage in between the sounds.”

Crawford also divulged that he was not aware that there was a second on-set recording, during which he calls Wayans a p— and in which Wayans responds with equally profane language.

“I did not expect that tape to come out,” he said. “That was the episode I was directing… On Damon’s first or second day… He called in sick, which, he never called in sick. [He] comes back to work the next day and he’s shooting hoops. And I was like, ‘Are you feeling better?’ and he was like, ‘Come on, bro. Everybody needed a day off.’”

In the interview, Crawford also mentioned that he did not receive a phone call from Warner Bros. telling him that he was fired. He said that his final conversation with studio president Peter Roth came after word first broke of on-set tensions.

“He said, ‘Clayne, I can’t promise you that I can save your job, but what I can tell you is that you have to make a public announcement apologizing, publicly, to Damon Wayans,’” Crawford says. “I was like, “What the fu—? Peter, why would I apologize publicly because he and I had a riff on set?’ And he’s like, ‘Clayne, that statement alone tells me you don’t want to come back… If I were you, I’d look your children in the eyes, and I’d look your wife in the eyes, and you need to make a decision.’”

As previously reported, Crawford was fired from Lethal Weapon in May after allegations that he was overly aggressive on set. Many fans blame Wayans, as they felt that he was instrumental in Crawford’s firing.

At the time, Crawford defended himself from the allegations in a lengthy statement that did include admissions of getting heated on set.

“I absolutely love, respect, and care for my crew and cast and would never intentionally jeopardize so many jobs,” he added. “Moreover, I love the process of filmmaking and television. I appreciate and respect the work of everyone involved.

“It takes a village, and I am incredibly sorry if my passion for doing good work has ever made anyone feel less than comfortable on set or feel less than celebrated for their efforts. Furthermore, I apologize to all the crew and cast for any negative attention Lethal Weapon is receiving because of these incidents.

“I take great pride in treating everyone in life with dignity and kindness. I am very grateful for my job, and I work extremely hard at it,” he continued. “I have a responsibility to do good work for my co-workers, my family, and my home state, and most especially for the fans.”

While Crawford will not be reappearing, fans can watch the premiere of Lethal Weapon season 3 when it debuts on Tuesday, Sept. 25 on Fox.