Following the recent report that Emilio Estevez would not be returning for the second season of Disney+’s The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, the franchise star addressed statements that his exit was due to the show’s COVID vaccination requirements.
A lengthy response was sent to Deadline in which Estevez calls the exit “nothing more than a good old fashioned contract dispute” and “a myriad of creative differences.”
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In the statement, Estevez claims he is “not anti-vaxx” while adding “simply put, I am anti-bully.” Estevez didn’t address whether the studio was assured by his team that he would comply with the vaccine mandate, maintaining that creative differences were “at the heart of the contract dispute” that led to the end of the road for his character, Gordon Bombay, on the series.
Estevez said that he takes “this pandemic very seriously, and I am often teased about my continued following of the safety protocols and my abundance of caution.” The actor shared that in March 2020 he tested posted for COVID-19 and suffered from “Long Haul Syndrome.” Estevez claims he was reluctant to return to production in August 2020, “uncertain about how I would be safe on set.” He says he “questioned the wisdom of returning to make a TV show in the middle of a pandemic and how actors could be considered ‘essential workers.'”
The star went on to say that producers reassured him that he would be “the safest one on set,” and that he was also apparently “warned by my former reps about possible consequences and legal jeopardy” if he did not report to work.
Estevez added that “the legacy of the franchise was more important to me than my own health,” but “in retrospect, I wrongly chose to protect the show over being transparent about having contracted Covid-19. I may have provided another public example to wit, how we are all vulnerable to this deadly disease.”
Estevez ended the statement by saying that the “producers and show runners all know the truth,” before wishing the show’s cast and crew well for Season 2 and expressing his disappointment.
“It was an honor and a thrill to be able to return as the iconic and beloved character, Gordon Bombay, a character which has been a celebrated benchmark in my 40 year career. And I thank the studio and the producers for creating an opportunity to allow me to visit him again,” he said.
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The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is created and executive produced by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and Steven Brill, who is the original writer of the first film and the executive producer on all three films.
Executive producers are Graham, Estevez, Michael Spiller, George Heller, Brad Petrigala, Jon Avnet, and Jordan Kerner. It is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios.
