Gabrielle Union Reportedly Fired From 'America's Got Talent'

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Gabrielle Union Will Not Be Returning To America’s Got Talent Next Season

News broke this weekend that Gabrielle Union would not be returning for the next season of America’s Got Talent. But unfortunately for the actress, it looks like the departure may not have been on her terms.

According to reports from LoveBScott, the firing came as a result of her speaking up about ‘problematic’ situations, including racism, sexism, and more.

A source from NBC told the outlet the following about Union’s reported firing:

“[Gabrielle’s] contract was not renewed after being the #1 talent on the show, NBC and network TV. She set the record for her Golden Buzzer. They only replace the women and blacks at Simon’s whim. She wouldn’t walk away from $12 million because she’s ‘busy.’ Based on weekly interactions on social media, by the time AGT finale aired Gabrielle was the #1 talent on network TV for 2019. Why not pick up someone’s option in extreme success?”

Julianne Hough was also let go from the program, which the source alleges has nothing to do with either judge’s popularity–because both received more interactions than Howie Mandel, who still has a job.

“Social media engagement is the new measuring stick for talent and Simon isn’t on social media. Juliane and Gabrielle were both way higher ranked/engaged than Howie. The idea the network wants to ‘switch things up’ only applies to women and Black folks. Nick Cannon wasn’t crazy. He walked away from 8-figures over how [AGT] operates.”

This matches up with Nick Cannon’s claims from back in 2017, when he took to Facebook to announce that he was ‘threatened with termination by executives’ after he made a racial joke about NBC during a stand-up special, causing him to quit.

As of now, neither Gabrielle Union nor Julianne Hough have commented on their respective departures from the show.