Ice Cube is denying claims he shortchanged the actors of the cult classic, Friday. On Wednesday (Dec. 29), the N.W.A. star addressed the allegations after fans responded to reports about Faizon Love’s dissatisfaction with his pay.
Cube was accused of “robbing his own people” following Love’s new interview with Atlanta Black Star. In the chat, the actor, who appeared as Big Worm in the 1996 movie, said he only made $2,500, prompting his decision to turn down the sequel. Eager to clear his name, the rapper provided some details about the film’s budget while noting that all actors had the opportunity to reject their roles.
“I didn’t rob no fuckin body,” tweeted Cube. “The 1995 Friday movie cost $2.3m to make. Shot it in 20 days. Faizon worked 1 day, maybe 2. All the actors got paid scale to do the movie. They could’ve simply said ‘No’ but they didn’t. So miss me with that shit.”
He also shut down rumors that Tucker also “quit” the Friday series because of the low pay. “We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday, but he turned us down for religious reasons,” wrote the West Coast star. “He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore.”
The explanation aligns with Tucker‘s own reason for turning down the sequel.
“I never really told people this ’cause I kinda forgot about it … I didn’t want to represent everybody smoking weed,” said the comedian, who admitted he received only $10,000 for the original film. “I kind of made it more personal than a movie … I wanted to move on because when I did something, I never wanted to do it again. Back then, I was all about going to the next level. I had a good sense of like, ‘OK, now it’s time to go do an action movie.’”
See the tweets below.
I didn’t rob no fuckin body. The 1995 Friday movie cost $2.3m to make. Shot it in 20 days. Fazion worked 1 day, maybe 2. All the actors got paid scale to do the movie. They could’ve simple said “No” but they didn’t. So miss me with that shit… https://t.co/2K1dUFZ489
— Ice Cube (@icecube) December 29, 2021
We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons. He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore. https://t.co/1pfo1FHWzp
— Ice Cube (@icecube) December 29, 2021