Back in 2001, before his rise to becoming one of the world’s biggest superstars, Drake began his run on Canadian teen drama “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
The 6 God played the character of teenager Jimmy Brooks for seven seasons. His character was shot in season four resulting in him being paralyzed and wheelchair-bound.
James Hurst, a former writer on the show, revealed Drake’s concerns over his image after his character had to appear in a wheelchair. He recalled receiving a letter from a Toronto law firm on Drake’s behalf. “Aubrey Graham will not return to Degrassi season six as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he’s out of the wheelchair,” read the letter.
He immediately spoke to Drake about it who said he was unaware of the letter. Hurst then asked Drake how he really felt about the wheelchair.
“He’s like, ‘All my friends in the rap game say I’m soft because I’m in a wheelchair,’” he said.
Hurst then flipped the situation. “‘Well, tell your friends in the rap game that you got shot. How much harder can you get? You got shot, and you’re in a wheelchair.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’”
"He's like, 'All my friends in the rap game say I'm soft because I'm in a wheelchair.'” https://t.co/njsgmx2P5I
After Hurst’s pep talk he says Drake” was so nice and apologetic about everything. He instantly backed down.” Giving the rapper further motivation he told him:
‘Aubrey, there’s some kid somewhere in a wheelchair, who’s completely ignored, who’s never on television, never gets represented. I need you to represent this person. You’re the coolest kid on the show, and you can say there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair.'”
Drake left the show in 2008 to pursue his music career and the rest, as they say, is history.