Thandiwe Newton Denies Magic Mike 3 Firing Over Oscars Slap Argument With Channing Tatum

Rumors that Magic Mike 3 actor and producer Channing Tatum fired actress Thandiwe Newton over an argument about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars are “completely inaccurate.” A Warner Bros. Pictures spokesperson said Wednesday the Westworld star was stepping away from Magic Mike’s Last Dance due to personal “family matters,” with Salma Hayek replacing Newton as the female lead. Responding to The Sun‘s story that the Emmy winner was fired after an “unimaginably vicious” argument with Tatum about Smith’s smacking incident at the Oscars, Newton’s spokesperson told Daily MailOnline that the British tabloid’s report “is completely inaccurate.”

“Channing Tatum is the producer and number one on set. Thandiwe Newton is the number two star. But 11 days into shooting and it’s all over,” a freelance crew member reportedly told The Sun. “They fell out over the debacle at the Oscars. I was on set. I watched her and watched him. They were in and out of the house where we were filming having this confrontation.” 

The source continued, “It was a tense exchange of words, but suddenly it escalated — Channing got into this car and he disappeared. People looked at each other and thought, ‘Wait, we’re supposed to be filming.’ After the [argument] he just went, ‘I am not working with her anymore.’ Him being a producer, it’s his movie, so she’s off the movie. She’s gone. Everything we’ve shot for the last 11 days has to be reshot with a new cast member.”

Director Steven Soderbergh “didn’t take a side,” according to the source, claiming Newton was “very demanding” before the reported argument with Tatum.

“Everyone on set found her challenging to work with. She’s an absolute diva,” the crew member is reported saying. “I’ve watched her have a go at the first assistant director, her costume girl. She’s always ranting and raving about something.”

The report comes after a WB spokesperson said Newton “made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike’s Last Dance to deal with family matters.” The role was recast with Hayek, who most recently appeared in Marvel’s Eternals and House of Gucci. 

The sequel to 2012’s Magic Mike and 2015’s Magic Mike XXL, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is now in production and will premiere exclusively on HBO Max.