The Pitt‘s Tracy Ifeachor won’t be returning to the ER!
In a shock announcement, HBO Max confirmed the actress, who played Dr. Heather Collins on the first season of the hit medical drama, will not be returning for the highly anticipated second season. Wow! Fans first realized something might be amiss when Tracy reflected on the success of the season in an emotional Instagram post last week, writing:
“What a blessing to be a part of this first and foundational season of #ThePitt on @hbomax . It was an absolute privilege to play Dr. Heather Collins in such a groundbreaking season and piece. Thank you to everyone who has watched & supported Season 1 & shared their stories with me.”
It “was” a privilege. Past tense there… She was saying goodbye… See (below):
Dr. Collins was a senior resident at the Pittsburgh teaching hospital in the Noah Wyle-led drama. The character had a close relationship with Noah’s Dr. Robby, and it was revealed they had a past romance that led to an abortion. Her storyline ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger as she left the hospital after suffering a miscarriage. So everyone expected her back.
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The show takes place during a single hospital shift, so producers were already teasing that not everyone would return for the second season. Creator R. Scott Gemmill previously told EW, “Not everyone works the same shift every week.” And yet choosing to leave out someone who was such a pivotal character in the very first episodes of this series is SO noteworthy! You don’t make that choice lightly! So, what gives? Did they just get bored of her character? Or did they not want to work with the actress again??
Well, after news broke that she was fired, fans started searching for answers, and what they found was shocking! Some amateur sleuths discovered the 40-year-old is associated with an evangelical mega church in London called Jesus House For All Nations. Sadly, this is yet another Christian anti-LGBT church — a really bad one that has performed “gay exorcisms.” What?! The church is also has a strong anti-abortion stance. Shocker.
There’s no proof The Originals alum played a part in any of those alleged exorcisms or any specific mistreatment of the LGBT community — but she did associate herself with the church, which is just as icky! She was seen in a clip discussing her faith with the community after giving a talk in March. This was recent, y’all! Hear it (below):
Sure, she didn’t say anything offensive in the clip, but again, her association with an organization that has been widely criticized as an anti-LGBTQ+ church suggests she’s fine with their practices and that’s problematic AF. So some fans think this is the real reason she was fired! But is it??
On Friday, Tracy’s rep hit back at the allegations, telling The Mirror US:
“These claims are entirely false. First, Tracy was not fired. Dr. Heather Collins was simply not written in as a part of Season 2, which is a creative decision that has been confirmed by HBO.”
Wait, WHAT?! Not being brought back because of a “creative decision” is still being FIRED. It’s a bummer, but it is one of many reasons you can get fired from an acting job, it happens on TV shows all the time! She didn’t choose to leave. They chose for her to leave. That’s getting fired, no matter the reason. Just saying!
More importantly the rep vehemently denied homophobia accusations, saying:
“Furthermore, any rumors about Tracy participating in any discrimination through her religion are completely incorrect, defamatory, and hurtful.”
The statement continued:
“This gossip could not be further from the truth. She is a woman who leads with love, kindness, and compassion, and as her very gay publicist, I can say that I see this daily, firsthand.”
Oh, boy. As one fan pointed out on Reddit:
“This is the LGBTQ equivalent for ‘I’m not racist I have a black friend!’”
It really is giving off the same vibe!! LMFAO. At this time, Tracy has not commented on the drama herself. Obviously we hope she’s not homophobic. But the church you align yourself with is a choice. We doubt it’s why she got fired, it sounds like maybe the writers are just more interested in following other characters… But it’s not a good look.
Thoughts?? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via HBO Max]
The post <i>The Pitt</i> Star FIRED — Over Anti-LGBT Church That Performs ‘Gay Exorcisms’?! Her Rep Says… appeared first on Perez Hilton.