'S.W.A.T.' stars react to being cut out of Shemar Moore's 'Exiles' spinoff
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Shemar Moore’s S.W.A.T. co-stars are speaking out after learning that they have been cut out of a planned spinoff of the popular cop drama.
After S.W.A.T. ended its eight-season run last month, CBS announced it was moving forward on S.W.A.T. Exiles with Moore returning as Sgt. Daniel ‘Hondo’ Harrelson.
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'S.W.A.T.' stars react to being cut out of Shemar Moore's 'Exiles' spinoff Back to video
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S.W.A.T. had one of the most devoted fanbases in all of television. CBS twice dropped the show, only to bring it back after an outcry from its devoted viewers.
After it was cancelled for good back in March, Moore appealed to Netflix to give the show a new lease on life.
“Let me just remind you that in a very short period of time, once upon a time ago …it only took us about two weeks to go from number 15 … to number one,” Moore said on Instagram. “And then we stayed in your top 10, top 15 for about six months, nine months, maybe a year. So Netflix, if you’re interested in a show that is on autopilot that the world is watching, we’d love to come play. NBC, Fox, ABC, hey, you want to come flirt with me? You’re invited to the barbecue. Pick your favourite restaurant. I will pay the bill.”
The streamer didn’t bite, but CBS execs gave a green light to Exiles with Moore the only returning star.
Moore, 55, celebrated the news with a lengthy Instagram video telling his followers he was “excited and grateful” for their support. But he also rankled some fans of the show by calling himself the “Tom Brady of S.W.A.T.”
“Y’all paid attention. Y’all tuned in. You rallied for us eight years,” he said. “We won, and without those eight years, there is no future of S.W.A.T., and there is a future for S.W.A.T., and it’s called S.W.A.T. Exiles. So, we start shooting this summer. I’m not saying I’m Tom Brady, but I’m the Tom Brady of S.W.A.T. — that’s not arrogant, that’s not ego, it’s the fact. I’m the quarterback. I’m Shemar Moore, aka Hondo.”
He continued: “Tom Brady might be the quarterback, but you know, people get traded. Tight ends get traded. The running back gets traded, the receivers get traded but the teams keep pushing with their quarterback and I’m that guy, so proud so grateful, not gonna apologize for nothing. Busted my ass for 31 years to do what I do, and excited for the future.”
Of course, Moore’s comments ruffled some feathers with his co-stars. Jay Harrington, who played Sgt. David ‘Deacon’ Kay on the series, said that he learned of the spinoff after getting a text from Moore.
“It was the day before. Shemar reached out to to all of us to say, ‘This is what’s going on…,’ and, you know, there’s talk that they’ll reach out to us about stuff,” Harrington told TVLine this week. “He wanted to be the one to tell us, and say ‘your reps will find out shortly.’ That’s when I told my reps, and they had no idea.”
Harrington said Moore invited him to give him a call and he told the website he sent the actor a text. “I texted him later and said, ‘I’m sure you did your best.’ We’ve been brothers for years, so that doesn’t change.”
But Harrington said he has moved on and called his exclusion part of “show business.”
“I’ve been in this business for a long time. You don’t get ‘owed’ things just because you put in your time. … if there was any disappointment, it’s that when they announced it, we weren’t mentioned at all. That was it. And it was short-lived because I thought, ‘I’m not going to let that take away from what I know in my heart is eight years of putting in some great work,'” he said.
Fellow co-star David Lim, who played Victor Tan, also sounded off on the spinoff.
“I’d be lying if I said the rollout of the new spinoff didn’t sting,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “It was tough to see it announced just two days after our finale — with no mention of the cast who helped build S.W.A.T. from day one. After 8 incredible seasons, it felt like we were brushed aside when there could’ve been a moment of reflection and recognition — for the people who built this show, and for the impact it had on so many.”
Lim also said that the cast “fought” to get S.W.A.T. renewed for ninth season saying everyone involved “believed we still had more to give, more stories to tell.”
“We wanted it for our crew, for each other, and for the newer faces just joining us. It wasn’t in the cards for all of us—and that’s okay,” he wrote.
In an interview with Variety, Sony Pictures Television president Katherine Pope said the door isn’t completely closed on Moore’s S.W.A.T. castmates joining him in the spinoff.
“It’s a universe. There is a clear world that we’re exploring here. We’re a few weeks in. We’re still putting it all together, but for sure, I think you can expect some of your favourites to be a part of it in some way,” she said in an interview last month.
According to Deadline, the new series will follow Hondo after he is drawn out of retirement to lead a S.W.A.T. unit made up of untested recruits.
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