Jamie Foxx has blamed cancel culture for the indefinite shelving of his movie “All-Star Weekend.”
The Oscar-winning actor co-wrote and directed the sports comedy-drama in 2016 and played Malik, a basketball-obsessed truck driver.
“All-Star Weekend,” which also starred Jeremy Piven, Jessica Szohr, Eva Longoria, Robert Downey Jr., Ken Jeong, Gerard Butler, and Benicio del Toro, was originally meant to be released in February 2018 but has faced numerous delays.
Reflecting on the project in an interview for CinemaBlend, Jamie Foxx pointed to the “tough” time comedians have faced of late as the reason why the film hasn’t hit cinemas.
“It’s been tough with the lay of the land when it comes to comedy,” the 54-year-old said. “We’re trying to break open the sensitive corners where people go back to laughing again… We hope to keep them laughing and run them right into All-Star Weekend because we were definitely going for it.”
In addition to the lead role, Foxx reportedly also played two other characters in “All-Star Weekend” – a “white, racist cop” and Cleveland A. Smith, the fictional brother of TV personality Stephen A. Smith.
Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. made an appearance as a “Mexican man.”
The “Iron Man” actor previously courted controversy by playing a white Australian actor who dons blackface as part of his method acting for the role of an African-American man in 2008’s “Tropic Thunder.”
And during an appearance on “Get Some with Gary Owen” in May, Piven said he would be surprised if “All-Star Weekend” ever gets a release date.
“It’s one of those things where Foxx is probably the most talented guy I’ve ever been around, known, heard of. He’s the funniest guy in the room. He can sing. There’s nothing Foxx can’t do,” he shared. “I had the time of my life… Foxx is really hard on himself. He’s one of these dudes, you know, he wants it to be perfect, so he’s been holding onto this thing for five years. It’s going to be a period drama by the time they put it out.”
Jamie Foxx is currently promoting his new Netflix vampire movie, “Day Shift.”