Gabrielle Union Fired From America's Got Talent After She Complained About Jay Leno?

Workplace toxicity is rampant, and American actress Gabrielle Union isn’t one to keep mum about it. Union was vocal about being subjected to condescending remarks during her tenure as a judge in Season 14 of the show “America’s Got Talent”. Incidentally, she has been ousted from NBC’s competition series. While several speculate foul play could’ve attributed to her quick exit, further probe on the issue is underway by SAG-AFTRA.

As per a recent report, it is alleged that Union’s requests to the producers of the shows fell on deaf ears. Union was upset by a rather demeaning on camera joke by a guest judge, Jay Leno. She believed the joke bore a racist undertone, targeted Asian communities and was clearly uncalled for. What’s more, Union claimed that she was often told that her hairdo was “too black” for the show’s audience.

Support began to flood in, in favor of Union. Actress Patricia Arquette requested SAG-AFTRA to spring to action in support of Union. “I’m just catching up on this. This is terrible. You should not be penalized for trying to have a workplace that honors the rule of law in the workplace,” she said. “Where is the union? HELLO??? @sagaftra,” Arquette added.

The sudden news irked several fans world over, but NBC has claimed, in a statement, to dig deeper into Union’s concerns. The statement read: “We remain committed to ensuring a respectful workplace for all employees and take very seriously any questions about workplace culture,” the group said Sunday in a joint statement. “We are working with Ms. Union through her representatives to hear more about her concerns, following which we will take whatever next steps may be appropriate.”

The statement comes five days after Union’s exit from the show. Union, who was clearly not in the mood to let bygones be bygones, threw low-key shade on NBC for not being proactive enough in regards to this controversy. Following the release of NBC’s statement, Union took to Twitter to give her perspective on the whole issue. She retweeted a tweet by entertainment and culture writer Joelle Monique, which outlined the three steps to a “solid apology” and asserting that “anything less is covering your own ass.”