Richmond Dunbar sues Disney for discrimination and forced '9-1-1' exit over vaccine refusal
9-1-1 star Rockmond Dunbar has sued Disney and 20th Century Fox for 'discrimination based on his race and religion' after declining to receive the obligatory Covid-19 vaccination. According to TMZ, the 49-year-old actor said that his firing from the hit Fox show 'severely damaged his career' since he developed a reputation as an anti-vaxxer, which he is not.
Dunbar's medical and religious exemptions were both denied, and he claims the studios have refused to pay him "hundreds of thousands of dollars" he claims he is owed. Other celebs who have refused to take the vaccine and faced backlash for it include tennis ace Novak Djokovic, Letitia Wright and Evangeline Lily among others.
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According to Deadline, Dunbar received a 25% raise to around $80K per episode for season five last August and he was expected to go up to $100K per episode in season six if he got the jab. In terms of charges of racism, Dunbar's onscreen ex-wife Angela Bassett, who is also African-American, makes '$450K per episode,' which is the 'highest ever for an actress of color on a broadcast drama series.'
Since its launch in 2018, Dunbar has appeared on Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear's critically praised LA first responders serial. After 14 years of marriage and two children, the NoCal native's architect character Michael Grant was diagnosed with a brain tumor and came out of the closet after five seasons.
Michael was written off after proposing to his neurosurgeon boyfriend Dr David Hale (La Monde Byrd) and declaring they were heading to hurricane-devastated Haiti to aid with relief efforts for a few months in the November 15 episode, titled 'Defend In Place.' In a statement to Deadline at the time, Dunbar said, "I'll cherish the time I've been blessed to spend with this series and wish everyone involved nothing but the best."
"My sincerely held beliefs and private medical history are very intimate and personal aspects of my life that I do not publicly discuss and have no desire to start now," Dunbar said, without specifying his faith. The self-described 'man that walks in faith' also seeks a 'injunction barring the studios from discriminating against anyone based on race or religion when it comes to vaccination policies,' according to his lawsuit.
From his eight-year marriage to second wife Maya Gilbert, Dunbar said his priority was his four children: daughter Berkeley, son Czar, son Pharaoh, and son Sultan. Given that his wife is the story editor of NBC's drama series 'Ordinary Joe', Dunbar might be able to get a role in it if the show is renewed for a second season. The three-week production of Steven C Pitts' snowmobile thriller 'Red Winter' wrapped in March 2020 (just before the coronavirus shut down the nation) in Colorado, with Dunbar playing Harold. Dunbar has also been in NBC's 'Earth 2', Showtime's 'Soul Food', FX's 'Sons of Anarchy', CBS' 'The Mentalist', Hulu's 'The Path' and Fox's 'Prison Break', among other shows.