When I saw tweets about the Sheen boys being such a disappointment over the weekend, I was tempted not to click on why Emilio Estevez was trending. The jury’s still out on what’s going on with him, though. It was announced last Friday that Disney would not pick up Emilio’s option for season two of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. They were going to write out his character, Coach Gordon Bombay. The reason given was that Emilio refused to comply with the studio’s mandatory vaccination policy after weeks of negotiations. This was the exclusive report from Deadline:
The Mighty Ducks franchise will continue without Gordon Bombay. Emilio Estevez, who reprised his role from the 1992 movie and its 1994 and 1996 sequels in Season 1 of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, will not be back for the Disney+ series’ upcoming second season, I have learned.
I hear Disney Television Studios’ ABC Signature, which produces the hockey-themed sequel series, made the decision not to pick up Estevez’s option for Season 2 after weeks of back and forth with his team over the show’s Covid vaccination requirement. Reps for the studio and Estevez declined comment.
According to sources, Estevez, through his reps, has declined to provide assurances that he would comply with the policy. With the two sides at an impasse as the Season 2 scripts were being written and the planned early 2022 start of production was looming, I hear the studio made the call to not exercise the actor’s option and the scripts will be adjusted to continue the story without the character.
Meanwhile, sources close to Estevez indicate that creative differences may have played a role in his exit.
So Disney is saying outright the decision is because Emilio would not comply with the mandate. Supposedly Emilio and his reps weren’t commenting but someone dispatched those sources to say it was creative differences instead. With Emilio’s refusal to show proof of vaccination and his little brother Charlie Sheen’s history as a vocal anti-vaxxer in the past, we all jumped to the same conclusion, that Emilio was anti-vaxx and willing to walk away from Mouse Money over it.
But Emilio finally spoke out after enough people called him a Covidiot. He claims his departure was solely over creative disputes and that he is absolutely not anti-vaxx. He also disclosed he’d suffered from long haul Covid in February 2020.
The 59-year-old Outsiders star told Deadline on Monday, November 8, that his decision was “nothing more than a good old fashioned contract dispute” and “a myriad of creative differences,” while also noting that he previously contracted COVID-19 last year.
“I am not anti-vaxx. Full stop,” Estevez said in his lengthy statement. “I take this pandemic very seriously, and I am often teased about my continued following of the safety protocols and my abundance of caution. … While I can’t speak for anyone else in regards to this polarizing, sensitive issue, I have my own lived experience.”
Emilio went on to detail feeling ill, getting tested for Covid, trying to protect everyone after he got it and regretting his decision not to go public with his diagnosis for the sake of the series. He did not, in any part of his statement, say he’d been vaccinated or that he was willing to show proof. He added to his statement that,”his departure was due to being “anti-bully,” not anti-vaccine.” It all just sounds so cagey. Maybe Emilio and Aaron Rodgers can spend their off-time to co-author the book “How to Dance Around the Vaccine Question Until it Comes for Your Job.”
Photo credit: Avalon Red
“He did not, in any part of his statement, say he’d been vaccinated or that he was willing to show proof.”
This. This is all you need to know.
@ Silver charm : Exactly. If he was vaccinated, he would respond by saying he was vaccinated. That verbal dance of his is a long winded way of saying “No, I’m not vaccinated” without using the dreaded words. Creative differences, my a**.
At least he’s not encouraging others not to get the jab.
But it totally sounds like he’s anti vaxx, but still wants the option to work in the future. He’s learning from all the other celebs that are getting trashed on social media.
If he is indeed not vaccinated, then that’s really disappointing, but I do appreciate that he’s not encouraging others under the guise of freedom.
yeah, if he were vaccinated he would have said so. basically what he’s saying is he’s not anti-vax but he hasn’t made his decision on whether he’s going to get this one. I know several people like that unfortunately.
Me, too. My husband & I have friends who refuse to get the vaccine for stupid political reasons and it’s maddening. They’re not full-on anti-vaxxers either, “just” of the anti-COVID vaxxer variety, which makes no sense to me. One of them is actually an ER nurse (an ER nurse!) and her “reasoning” is that it was rolled out too fast without enough trials. I give up 🤦🏻♀️.
I have a very good friend who supposedly hasn’t made up her mind yet, and this despite the fact that here in Quebec you basically can’t do anything indoors if you don’t have your two doses (no restaurant dining, no movies, no travelling by plane / train, etc). Even with the restrictions, she still hasn’t gotten it…so I doubt that it’s a case of being undecided. She doesn’t want to and that’s the end of it.
He’s not anti-vax, he’s “don’t tell me what I can and cannot do!” Greaaaaat. You’d think he’d have learned from HAVING covid, but noooooo.
I bet he’s someone who believes because he had it, he doesn’t need to get vaccinated because now he “can’t” get it. Or that having it is the same as getting a vaccination for it.
Maybe he just had a terrible time and is terrified the vaccine will make him ill, but I’m going with the other opinion – having it is the same as a vaccination – because just because he’s been saavy enough to avoid the family name doesn’t mean he’s that different from his brother.
Yeah, this sounds like it. At least he claims he’s being careful and following protocols.
I’m about 95% sure I had COVID in January 2020. I didn’t get tested at the time since my state was a s***show and it was darn near impossible to access any testing. Anyway, I did drag my feet on getting vaccinated because I was afraid of the side effects. But I finally did it; I sailed through the first shot, though I did feel like dog poop for a couple of days after the second one. Still, it was way, WAY less than what I would’ve experienced had I gotten another COVID infection — of that I’m absolutely convinced. Get the damned shot!!!
he’s actually the one using the family name. Sheen is the stage name. I’ve always appreciated Emilio for not whitewashing his name.
This is how you can tell they know they’re in the wrong.
All these anti vaxxers who rush to say they are definitely not anti vaxxers.
They will not accept judgment or consequences for their actions.
Similar to racists. Saying things in code about independent thinking and personal beliefs and not being “bullied” by a “woke mob”.
They are selfish, stupid cowards who in both cases are getting other people killed.
But as long as those people aren’t members of their family – they don’t care.
@ Ariel, but they don’t care about their family! They are all willing to cause the death of their loved ones due to their own selfishness and their delusional ideals that they are the actual victims!!
Sure sounds like he hasn’t been vaccinated.
How foolish, cost him this job and future jobs. and if I were his reps I would drop him, as he’s making himself unemployable.
Lol surely Emilio doesn’t think he’s so in demand that he will have plenty of other projects lined up immediately!
Excellent point!! When was the last time he had a job, that his Dad didn’t set up for him?
No Coach Bombay, not you too!
Imagine throwing away your only job opportunity because you refuse to get a vaccine that can protect you during a pandemic.
That’s what they all keep saying. “I’m not anti-vaxx” followed up with some nonsense of “I’m just anti-mandate!” or something.
So…Joshua Jackson is right there. He’s beloved and is one of the guys that’s always “the internet’s boyfriend”. Why can’t adult Charlie coach for a season or two?
Leave the non-vaxxer out of it completely
Wait. Estevez’s character is named after two brands of gin?!
It’s also my nickname for the Queen Mother.
In the very first movie he was assigned community service (coaching the youth hockey team) after being pulled over for drunk driving lol
Yep! The guy that becomes coach because of a DUI was named after 2 brands of gin
His Insta had pics of his Covid tests. No pic of a vax card. He definitely isn’t vaxxed.
@ Rapinzel, well that settles it!! He is certainly NOT vaccinated!!
Absolutely. Likely he is one of the type saying hey I had it so my immunity is quote unquote natural and I don’t need vaccination. Which is false as reinfections are a thing and having pre delta strain COVID almost two years ago shouldn’t exempt him from a workplace vaccine policy.
Adios Emilio.
I read his full statement last night and cave away feeling for him. But now I don’t know.
Weird how he apparently has no problem injecting his face with fillers (what’s even in those? We don’t even know the long term effects of pumping yourself full of Botox and other similar products but the conspiracy theorists didn’t jump on the precious Botox) but can’t take a shot or two in the arm. I can’t get over how hypocritical these people are. They have no problem injecting tattoo ink, fillers and other crap into their bodies but they draw the line with life saving vaccines. Please just go away!
My favorite thing to do is ask anti-vaxx mamas why they’re not scared of Botox – literally botulism – in their faces. They flip the EFF out. Try it. It’s fun.
And also, yeah, he’s not vaxxed. Every single vaxxed person understood that they were getting a CARD which they might have to SHOW and they are WILLING to do it because they are good citizens and neighbors. Shut down allllll the anti-vaxxers.
With all the shit Charlie Sheen has put in his body, it’s pretty outrageous he is antivax.
He’s not vaxxed Like others said, he would have made that clear if he was. If he had COVID-19 back in the beginning of 2020, he no longer had the natural antibodies necessary when time to film this year and would need the vaccine. “Full stop.” You would think with his long-haul symptoms, he would be eager to be vaccinated and not get the Delta variant.
I know someone who has a friend who has had COVID twice. He had it last year. He got the first dose of vaccine sometime this year, but a week after the first dose he was diagnosed with COVID again. This time the Delta variant. You are not protected from COVID a week out from getting your first shot. Far too many people think they are protected immediately and let down their guard And, clearly, by the summer of 2021 her friend no longer had the natural antibodies to help protect him from a second bout of COVID. He is now doubled vaccinated and is still masking. I’m disappointed in Emilio.
Who is he on the red carpet with in that photo?
Not sure if this was intended shade by including the eyes closed shot of jena malone or….? Lol