CAA is no longer representing Kian Lawley, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
The actor was dropped from 20th Century Fox’s upcoming feature The Hate U Give yesterday, after a video surfaced featuring Lawley making racist jokes. “We’re all black, drinking purple Kool-Aid and eating Kentucky Fried motherfucking Chicken,” he said, adding a word that was bleeped in the video.
“I am deeply sorry to those that were effected [sic] by my choice of language,” Lawley tweeted earlier today. “I respect Fox’s decision to recast this role for The Hate U Give as it is an important story, and it would not be appropriate for me to be involved considering the actions of my past. I understand the impact and I have grown a lot and learned since then.”
The Hate U Give is an adaptation of Angie Thomas’ No. 1 New York Times best-selling novel, which was published last year. The Black Lives Matter-inspired story follows Starr (Amandla Stenberg), a teenager caught between the worlds of her predominantly black neighborhood and predominantly white private school who witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed childhood friend. Lawley was to play Starr’s boyfriend; the role will now be recast and scenes reshot as needed.
Lawley, 22, signed with CAA in 2015 after finding fame online as a member of the popular YouTube supergroup Our2ndLife. He recently acted in the features Before I Fall and Boo! A Madea Halloween as well as Fullscreen’s Guilty Party.
