Ice Cube gives up major movie role — and $9 million payday — after refusing to get COVID vaccine

Rapper and actor Ice Cube was scheduled to star in Sony’s yet-to-shoot “Oh Hell No” comedy movie but walked away from the project after turning down the film producers’ request that he get a COVID-19 vaccination, the Hollywood Reporter said Friday.

The artist had partnered with comedic actor and musician Jack Black for the movie back in June, and the duo were supposed to begin filming in Hawaii this winter.

But then the producers, Matt Tolmach and the aforementioned Black, requested that all cast on the film get vaccinated.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ice Cube walked away from the project following the order that he get jabbed.

Not only did he leave behind a significant role for a major motion picture, the rapper also left $9 million on the table, according to Rolling Stone.

The project had already been delayed following an injury Black suffered while filming a gag for Conan O’Brien’s final episode of “Conan.” Now the movie’s filming date is up in the air as Sony and Black search for a replacement for Ice Cube.

The rapper’s personal representative and his agency, WME, declined to comment to the outlet. Sony and the producers also offered no comment.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, a July agreement between guilds and studios gives producers the option “to implement mandatory vaccination policies for casts and crew in Zone A [where the groups work in close proximity] on a production-by-production basis.”

Rapper and COVID stories

This isn’t first COVID-related story to involve Ice Cube.

In June 2020, the rapper got in hot water for, according to the Sun, spreading “conspiracies” about the corona virus, Bill Gates, and vaccines on social media.

Ice Cube shared a Gates meme on social media pointing out that the Microsoft founder is “not a doctor,” “not an epidemiologist,” “not a virologist,” but “owns virus patents” and “owns vaccine companies.” The artist’s posts, the Sun said, “fueled the conspiracy theory about Gates wanting to inject microchips in COVID-19 vaccines to track people.”

He also posted warnings to fans about ventilators and doctors and also demanded that medical professionals “tell the truth” about the corona virus, the Sun reported.

But not all of the coverage of Ice Cube’s response to COVID-19 has not been negative. In August, he was lauded for donating thousands of face masks to students at Oklahoma’s Bacone College.

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