Wait, does Newsmax own The Mighty Ducks? No, but they have the same philosophy apparently. Some on Twitter are, for whatever reason, claiming Emilio Estevez quit the hockey franchise he made famous, but that is not correct. They chose not bring him back. Because of the vaccine.
Deadline Hollywood broke the news this afternoon. You have to understand the gossip column format when you read this blockquote. There’s a lot of “I hear” and “sources say” and so on, because that’s how you have to do it in Hollywood where they consider everything, including facts, something to be negotiated. But that’s just style, the information itself is as news as news can be these days.
I hear Disney Television Studios’ ABC Signature, which produces the hockey-themed sequel series, made the decision not to pick up Estevez’s option for Season 2 after weeks of back and forth with his team over the show’s Covid vaccination requirement. Reps for the studio and Estevez declined comment.
Heading into Season 2, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers — like many Disney TV Studios series — has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy for the cast and crew in Zone A, which was included as an option in the most recent Return-to-Work agreement between the Hollywood studios and major unions. (Zone A includes all actors and crew members who come into direct contact with them.)
According to sources, Estevez, through his reps, has declined to provide assurances that he would comply with the policy. With the two sides at an impasse as the Season 2 scripts were being written and the planned early 2022 start of production was looming, I hear the studio made the call to not exercise the actor’s option and the scripts will be adjusted to continue the story without the character.
They also mention “creative differences” and call it an “exit,” because, again, that’s Hollywood. No source from Emilio’s side would talk to Deadline if they used the words “fired him like a dog” or anything of that kind. They have to make it sound like a negotiation because, again, that’s Hollywood.
But this is a firing. He refused to comply with the requirement, they refused to bring him back. It’s that simple. And it’s getting more common almost by the minute. There will be more. Deadline writes that, “While not a blanket policy yet, the Zone A vaccination mandate has emerged as an industry standard, with its adoption footprint steadily expanding.”
The mandates are winning and so far it’s not even a close contest. The Free State of Florida may be the last haven for liberty sooner or later. Coming from a Texan with Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott still mostly okay on these things, that’s saying a lot.