Clayne Crawford apologizes for ‘Lethal Weapon’ set behavior
Star Clayne Crawford apologized to the cast and crew of “Lethal Weapon” Tuesday in the wake of reports claiming that his behavior on set has endangered the future of the Fox drama.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Crawford provided details of two on-set incidents for which he was reprimanded, both related to concerns over working conditions. Crawford said that in the first incident, which occurred last fall, he “reacted with anger over working conditions that did not feel safe or conducive to good work,” prompting an angry response from the director and assistant director of the episode being shot. Crawford said that, following instruction from Warner Bros. Television, which produces the show, he completed therapy and shared a portion of his pay from the episode with one of the parties involved.
According to Crawford, the second incident occurred this spring during production of the first “Lethal Weapon” episode in which he served as director. During filming, an actor was hit by a piece of shrapnel from a special effect. “I take responsibility for the incident, because I was in charge of the set,” Crawford said. “I absolutely love, respect, and care for my crew and cast and would never intentionally jeopardize so many jobs.”
He added, “I love the process of filmmaking and television. It takes a village, and I am incredibly sorry if my passion for doing good work has ever made anyone feel less than comfortable on set or feel less than celebrated for their efforts. Furthermore, I apologize to all the crew and cast for any negative attention ‘Lethal Weapon’ is receiving because of these incidents.”
On Monday, multiple outlets reported that concern over Crawford’s behavior had injured the chances of “Lethal Weapon” landing a season-three renewal at Fox. Deadline reported that Crawford “had a history of bad behavior on the show,” and that the issue had escalated to the point that it “was threatening the future of the show,” with producers considering recasting Crawford. TVLine reported later Monday that Warner Bros. was considering dropping Crawford’s character from season three and replacing him with a new female character.
Representatives for Warner Bros. Television and Fox Broadcasting declined to comment for this story.
“Lethal Weapon” has been a solid ratings performer for Fox since its premiere in 2016. In its second season, it has averaged a 1.7 rating in the 18-49 demo and 6.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-seven numbers. The buddy-cop drama stars Crawford and Damon Wayans, and is based loosely on the series of action films starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
Read the full statement from Crawford below:
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