Damon Wayans Announces He’s Leaving ‘Lethal Weapon’

After much behind-the-scenes drama, Damon Wayans announced Wednesday that he is leaving FOX‘s Lethal Weapon come December.

The actor told Electronic Urban Report, “I’m a 58-year-old diabetic and I’m working 16 hours a day,” adding that he’s “too old for this.”

Wayans said he will finish shooting the initial 13 episodes of the third season, then officially stop working on the show in December, even though his plan has not yet gained approval from the network.

“Well, this is more of an announcement but I’m going to be quitting the show in December after we finish the initial 13,” he said. “I really don’t know what they’re planning but that’s what I’m planning.”

He added that he plans to “return to the stage and try to find my smile again.”

“This has been very hard. Especially last week, my mother had surgery, my daughter had surgery. I had to look them both in the eye and say ‘I can’t be there,’” Wayans continued. “It’s hard for me to play his loving, supportive father, husband, friend on TV and be the guy in life that’s telling everybody, ‘I can’t, I gotta work.’”

Lethal Weapon has seen its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama. Wayans was openly criticized by his former co-star, Clayne Crawford, in May after Crawford was firing following a blow-up between the two.

Wayans claimed that a stunt he says Crawford was in charge of left him injured, and also claimed Crawford was intimidating on set. He said staffers referred to Crawford as an “emotional terrorist.”

In video footage that surfaced of the argument between Crawford and Wayans following Wayan’s injury, Crawford can be heard insulting Wayans.

“You’re the biggest crybaby p— I’ve ever met in my life,” Crawford says to Wayans, to which Wayans replies, “Well suck this p—’s d—.” Crawford goes on to claim Wayans is only “in the game” because of his brothers, prompting more profanity from Wayans.

In another instance, also captured on video, Crawford can be heard off screen yelling about background noise interrupting a scene on a closed set. According to sources who spoke to Variety, the noise was being made by children playing in a nearby pool.

Crawford made a public apology for his behavior, but it was not enough to save his job on the series.

Wayans told Deadline in August that the tone on set was “definitely a lot lighter” without Crawford.

“We’re only the first (episode) in but it is definitely a lot lighter in tone, and we are having fun, on and off set,” he said. “It’s just a lot looser, nobody’s overthinking, just doing and having fun doing.”

Although Crawford’s character was not recast, Crawford was replaced by Seann William Scott for season 3 — and now it looks like producers will need a replacement for Wayans as well.