Black-ish stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Jennifer Lewis reportedly caused the show to shut down production over a feud.
According to Radar Online, the two women are not very friendly with one another off-camera, with their disdain allegedly spilling over into their professional time recently.
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“Tracee can’t stand Jennifer and vice versa, they’re like oil and water, they don’t mix well,” a source close to the situation told Radar. “They’re just like their characters — Jennifer wants to be the boss and Tracee isn’t having it.”
The source went on to claim that the women despise one another so much that they got into a heated exchange while filming, and production on black-ish had to be shut down for about half-an-hour.
Eventually the two were able to be calmed down so that filming could resume. “Jennifer is way over the top 24/7,” the source added. “On the set AND in real life.”
The perceived feud between Ross and Lewis seems to possibly be a recent one, as just one year ago Lewis was backing Ross up on her stance regarding the wage gap between herself and her co-star Anthony Anderson.
“There has been a lot of conversation and speculation the last few days regarding my Black-ish salary. I was in a renegotiation, like many actors find themselves in during the fourth season of a successful show,” Ross said in a January 2017 statement.
“I wanted to be compensated in a way that matches my contribution to a show that I love for many reasons, including the opportunity it allows me to reshape what it is to be a fully realized black woman on TV,” she continued.
— Tracee Ellis Ross (@TraceeEllisRoss) January 21, 2018
“The words and thoughts that were in the original article that started this public conversation were not mine; there were never any threats. I wish I would have been called by the reporter to confirm that,” Ross added, referring to reports that claimed she was refusing to appear in a number of episodes if she didn’t get what she wanted.
“Having had my renegotiation become a public conversation was awkward, but I’m grateful for the outpouring of support. I’m truly thankful that important conversations are taking place about fighting for women’s worth and equality, and tightening the pay gap in every industry,” she concluded her statement.
Lewis was later asked about the situation, and she boldly took a stand for her co-star.
“Tracee should have more money, you should have more money, every woman should have more money because we’ve been in the background too long,” Lewis said, as reported by Hip Hollywood.
“We’ve got grab her by the p— in the White House and women are not standing for it anymore. Black-ish is a very important show, we are dealing with all the pressing issues of our time … This is the time to look it in the face and address it and come through the fire. Women are not taking it anymore,” she went on to add. later saying that “there’s two sides to every story. Tracee is fine, everybody is fine, and everybody is getting paid. Everybody is eating. It’s all love I promise you.”
At this time, producers for the show do not appear to have commented on the feud rumors.
