Damon Wayans details all the ways Clayne Crawford was an abusive douche

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Ever since we learned that Clayne Crawford was and is an abusive douchebag in life and on the set of Fox’s TV show Lethal Weapon, I wondered if we would ever hear from Clayne’s costar Damon Wayans. Clayne was just fired from Lethal Weapon, hours before the season finale aired, and he was replaced with Seann William Scott within a day. Clayne was fired for cause, although we didn’t know every detail of his behavior – we heard that he had been emotionally and physically abusive to coworkers and that management made him go into therapy or something. Well, now that Clayne has been fired, Damon is speaking. Or rather, tweeting. Except that after a tweet storm last night, it seems Damon deleted everything, including his account. Damon detailed how Clayne was a no-joke abuser and sociopath on set:

After Lethal Weapon was officially renewed for a third season without Clayne Crawford, star Damon Wayans is addressing issues with his since-fired co-star.

Wayans shared a graphic video from an incident on the set during an episode directed by Crawford. In it, Wayans, who plays Murtaugh on the Fox procedural, can be seen getting struck in the back of his head by shrapnel. The brief clip was shared with a message to Lethal Weapon viewers who have taken issue with Crawford’s firing after an alleged string of instances of bad behavior on set. A subsequent tweet shared by Wayans — who turned his Twitter account private after the outcry but opened it up again late Monday — features a bloody cut on the opposite side of his head, seemingly questioning his on-set safety during the episode directed by Crawford.

A third tweet implies a potential reason for how the multiple injuries occurred, with Wayans tagging Crawford and using the hashtag #NoApology.

Wayans continued to share details of Crawford’s alleged reputation around the show’s set, posting an image of a sticker affixed to a post with an illustration of his former co-star with the caption “Clayne Crawford is an emotional terrorist” and noting that producers Warner Bros. TV have not supported him.

“Kiss the dark side of my ass if you don’t understand it wasn’t just me,” the actor tweeted. “@ClayneCrawford has a file of infractions.”

Wayans went on to describe an assault that allegedly took place between Crawford and another performer. Claimed Wayans, “He hit another actor in the mouth with a bottle of green tea and busted his mouth open.” In another tweet, the actor elaborates on Crawford’s rumored “bad behavior.” Wrote Wayans, “He became UNINSURABLE! Relished in making female cry. And stuck fear in cast and crew.”

[From Vulture & THR]

I’ve said this before, because I knew at a gut level that this was a massive exercise in Clayne Crawford’s white privilege, but seriously: HOW WAS THIS DOUCHEBAG ALLOWED TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS FOR SO LONG? Why are white dudes given soooo many opportunities to harm and abuse and terrorize people? Why wasn’t he fired – for cause – long before last f–king month?

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53 Responses to “Damon Wayans details all the ways Clayne Crawford was an abusive douche”

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  1. Lucy says:

    Holy sh*t. I don’t even know what to say.

    • delphi says:

      Right? I mean…effing hell. Crawford needs to be black-balled from the entertainment industry, pronto. However, I won’t hold my breath on that happening. Because I’ll die.

  2. Maya says:

    Why are white dudes given soooo many opportunities to harm and abuse and terrorize people?

    Because the whole is ruled by white men. The day that changes is the day women and some men will get justice..

    • Nicole says:

      Right? And the fans are mad that he got fired and threatening to boycott. People will cape for white men ALL DAY

  3. Diana says:

    Dude is a legit sociopath! How did he get away with this for so long and have a successful career at that? Dumbfounded

  4. ling says:

    that really sucks for damon and the crew. i renege my initial support for clayne and am glad that damon spoke out, though i wish that warner bros would say more, since they refused to keep the show going with clayne attached. i think seann william scott will do a fine job (and he’s better looking lol)

    • Josephine says:

      Glad that not everyone lost their job because of this one guy. Hopefully SWS will be a good replacement – he seems perfect for a comedy based on buddies.

  5. HelloSunshine says:

    Omg this is awful. Like so awful. I feel so bad for the cast and crew for having to put up with this. And shame on Fox for not doing anything until he became uninsurable. Clearly what they were doing wasn’t enough but they kept on with it

  6. girl_ninja says:

    Nice for Seann William Scott to have work.

  7. Shazbot says:

    Honestly, who is this person? Aside from this show – is he even anyone?

    • Onemoretime says:

      Right! Who is this creep? I had never heard or seen this clown before this show. What a terrible person.

    • Pandy says:

      I don’t think so?

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      He’s nobody. Really. And Wayans has had a long career. So yeah, the only explanation for WB supporting Crawford over is Wayans is the fact that he’s white.

      I usually hate main characters being replaced but I’m looking forward to SWS.

      • Ginger212 says:

        Didn’t Wayans stick up for Bill Cosby though? I don’t know that he should be anyone’s hero. He called Cosby’s victims “unrapeable” didn’t he?

      • holly hobby says:

        We’re not talking about Cosby but thanks for the dose of whataboutism < really that should die a quick death.

      • Ginger212 says:

        It’s not whataboutism to question the reliability of a source. I’m not comparing Crawford’s behaviour to Cosby’s, I’m talking about Wayan’s credibility as a defender of women. But thanks for the dose of (incorrect) snark. Really THAT should die a quick death.

      • ORIGINAL T.C. says:

        @GINGER212

        I think men don’t understand when women talk about abuse and harassment until they actually experience it themselves or are direct witnesses to it. His comments about Cosby were bad but I am glad that I’m at least this case he is able to be a witness for the men and women involved.

    • amyston says:

      Before this, I would’ve told you I thought he was a really talented actor and I looked forward to seeing more from him. Of note, he was fantastic on Rectify, a critically acclaimed Sundance Channel family melodrama.

  8. launicaangelina says:

    I’m glad Damon Wayons said something and it’d be great if Warner Bros and Fox were publicly candid about the issues. On Twitter, so many people are kissing Crawford’s ass and he’s soaking it up.

    • kelsey says:

      Sadly it’s not just Twitter. I made the mistake of looking at the comments on THR and Reddit and nearly all the posts are defending Crawford and bashing Damon Wayans. It is just sick. Damon Wayans has said some things in the past that I disagree with but on this issue he is right on the money.

      People online calling him a “crybaby” and “snowflake” for his head injury – as if being hit with shrapnel and having a bloody head wound is a normal part of an actor’s job.

      Crawford is an abusive douche but I guarantee he will get a zillion more chances and when he acts up again (which he will) he will still get defended by delusional stans.

      • Bridget says:

        THR draws the most conservative commenters, I really don’t get it at all.

      • H says:

        It was the same on the Variety thread. It made me ill. Crawford is an abusive moron and I don’t understand anyone defending his actions on the LW set.

  9. Marnie says:

    Crawford sounds like a sociopath. People were quick to point out that Wayans is a douche too, but acting like diva like Wayans allegedly does, is not the same thing as abusing people on set. I get why Damon felt like he had to defend himself here.

    • SlightlyAnonny says:

      Thank you. As soon as Crawford got a little bit of power on set, he abused it, causing one of his coworkers to be hurt. Wayans may be a jerk and a diva but he is not DRAWING BLOOD.

  10. Veronica S. says:

    Wow. You knew it had to be bad, but it’s mind blowing that it was THAT bad. Makes his mocking tweets in response to being fired come across downright sociopathic now, eh?

  11. Other Renee says:

    Whatever abuse he heaps on his family will probably double. Poor family.

  12. Betsy says:

    White men get to fail up. All the time. I hope we never have to see this actor again; it’s not like “vaguely sociopathic” and “hot-tish in some lights” isn’t well represented in the unemployed actor pool. They can probably find one who only looks sociopathic but is actually a nice guy.

  13. Reef says:

    His firing was all I needed to know about the situation. Studios don’t fire white male stars on tv shows unless they’re abhorrent human beings who will cost them more money than they bring in.
    Please see Kevin Spacey, Charlie Sheen.

    Also I wish Hilarie Burton would’ve minded her own business. Now’s not the time to say well he was nice to me, when he was clearly abusive to others.

    • kelsey says:

      This right here. I doubt the issue was just with Damon Wayans either – he is the only one speaking out. Crawford was a lawsuit waiting to happen. If he was as abusive to women crew members as is being claimed, it wouldn’t surprise me if FOX was doing damage control to limit any potential lawsuits. I’m seriously wondering if there was talk among certain crew members of lawsuits which is why he was fired. No way FOX wanted any part of a lawsuit and making this situation even uglier.

      Of course he was nice to Hilarie, the abusers are usually nice to their co-stars but abusive to the crew and those they deem “lower” on the totem pole.

      • lucy2 says:

        If it’s the truth, I’m ok with Hilarie saying her working relationship was fine, but she should do it in a way that doesn’t dismiss others’ complaints. As someone who was harassed and abused on another set (OTH) she should be aware that not all people are treated equally by the abusive party.

      • Lindy79 says:

        I think the issue with Hilarie is that in a 2 season, 40 episode run, she was in 6 episodes and not in a full time role. Is it not possible that there was stuff going on she didn’t/couldn’t have witnessed. But the tone of her support was very much acknowledging he was problematic but in a way defending it as passion which is what he did. She also threw shade at an unknown person and implied that Clayne was being targeted and in speaking out, she may be as well. So she didn’t just defend her friend.

    • SlightlyAnonny says:

      The absolutely cruel part of me (which is why I don’t have a twitter) wants to tweet at her that Ben Affleck never groped me so he must be a great guy. Again, why I don’t have a twitter.

      • Kim says:

        I want to tweet that at her as well. And I actually have a Twitter. Which is why I’m not going to log on to Twitter until my brain stops whispering “do it, do it, do it”.

  14. lucy2 says:

    Whoever made this public deserves a round of applause – this was apparently continuing for some time, and probably would still be going on if the story hadn’t come out.
    I’m no fan of DW, but good for him for sticking up for himself and the rest of the cast and crew, everyone deserves a safe workplace.

    No one else should hire this guy. He may be talented, but there are plenty of other talented actors out there who won’t terrorize and hurt people around him.

  15. Lindy79 says:

    I wonder will his other costar defend him now (Hilarie Burton?) I galled me when she came out and said how lovely he was to her etc. It smacked of when an abuser is called out and his/her friends all say “well I’VE never seen any of that so it can’t possibly be true”…I get wanting to defend a friend but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and you’re basically calling the people liars or questioning their truth.
    There was clearly a long term issue with this guy and no one did anything beyond a superficial slap on the wrist, he was even allowed to direct an episode??. Imagine this had been Damon, or a woman, or a woman of colour. No way this shit would have gone on as long as it did.

  16. 2121 says:

    I actually reserved judgement on him in the first post about him being fired because I know his family decently well but I totally admit I was wrong. He absolutely deserved to be fired for his actions. I feel sorry for his kids and his sweet wife for having to deal with all of the negative attention from this and I hope he will seek help for his issues. He had a good thing going and all he had to do was act like a decent human being.

  17. Loki99 says:

    Never heard of him until yesterday

  18. CK3 says:

    Commentators on another site that I frequent have taken to blaming Wayan’s for Crawford’s firing. Why? Because they’re racist pieces of trash that would rather blame the black man than take the word of white studio execs and the white actor they are defending.

  19. LittlefishMom says:

    Wow. This is terrible. He was excellent in Rectify. What a waste. Glad they fired him.

  20. elle says:

    Well, he dresses like Col. Sanders, so I’m not sure how woke we can expect him to be.

    Just realized who he was in Rectify. I couldn’t stand him.

  21. holly hobby says:

    Sorry that guy looks like a douche. Never watched the show because I liked the movies just fine. How did he last that long? HR didn’t get him?

    The comments about this on Entertainment Weekly were horrible. A lot of what I assume are Trumpanzes went after Damon. No wonder why he shut down his Twitter.

  22. No Doubtful says:

    I’m glad Wayans spoke out because I’ve been reading too many comments from the show’s fans saying how they won’t watch without him and he did nothing wrong, yadda yadda. I think people forget that in the “real world”, most employers would not put up with this behavior and neither should Hollywood. Boy, bye!

  23. tealily says:

    I wish he hadn’t shut his account down. I’d like to see his original tweets and that video. Isn’t the video posted anywhere? I haven’t been able to find it.

  24. Franklymydear... says:

    Sean William Scott!!!! Hurray!!! I couldn’t think who could play another Riggs and he will be AWESOME. I really like the show and now I’m excited about it again. Woohoo!

  25. SJhere says:

    I’ve never heard of this jerk before.
    And Damon Wayans is a serious talent, been great for years and years.
    WTH at WB? They aren’t siding with Damon Wayans?
    Bunch of tools.

  26. bella says:

    He broke a bottle against someone’s teeth!!! That isn’t just a lawsuit waiting to happen–THAT IS A LAWSUIT!!

  27. Addison says:

    I don’t even know who this actor is. I don’t recall seeing him an anything. I can understand if he was someone more famous and so it was covered up to protect the star. But I never even heard of him. Why protect a No-Name? Very weird.