Thandiwe Newton is dancing away from the new Magic Mike sequel — and one wild report claimed it's because of ... Will Smith's Oscars slap?
Warner Bros. has confirmed Newton will no longer be the female lead in the upcoming Magic Mike's Last Dance. She "made the difficult decision to step away" from the film to "deal with family matters," the studio said.
But a report from The Sun claimed she was "axed" after getting in an "unimaginably vicious" argument with the film's star, Channing Tatum, on set about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.
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"It was a tense exchange of words, but suddenly it escalated — Channing got into this car and he disappeared," a source claimed, alleging they "fell out over the debacle at The Oscars," were "in and out of the house where we were filming having this confrontation," and "after the row he just went, 'I am not working with her anymore.'"
A spokesperson for Newton denied the claims to the Daily Mail, though, saying, "This report is completely inaccurate." Page Six is also backing Newton up, reporting that "the dispute didn't even happen" and she truly is exiting due to family matters.
Salma Hayek will now play the female lead in Magic Mike's Last Dance, which is headed straight to HBO Max. The production is currently underway in the U.K.
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