Ice Cube exits upcoming Oh Hell No after refusing request to get vaccinated

Ice Cube is out of a job because he apparently didn’t want to get vaxxed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ice Cube was dismissed from his starring role in Oh Hell No after declining a request to get the COVID vaccine. He was meant to star alongside Jack Black. Sources told the publication that Sony is currently searching for someone to replace the rapper/actor.

In the movie directed by Bad Trip’s Kitao Sakurai, Cube was meant to play Will, whose friend Sherman (Black) falls in love with his mom—hence the movie’s title. The movie’s release date is still set for June 17, 2022.

Sony has yet to announce if the premiere date will be changed after having to recast the role. The movie was set to begin filming this winter in Hawaii.

Cube was reportedly supposed to get $9 million for this role. That’s a lot of money! For reference, that’s more than what Brie Larson made for starring in Captain Marvel ($5 million) and what Chadwick Boseman was paid for Black Panther ($2 million).

Imagine having the opportunity to make that much money and walking away from it simply because you refuse to get a vaccine that’ll protect you and others from a deadly virus.

And as THR reports, the strangest part of all this is that Ice Cube promoted taking safety measures throughout the pandemic, donating 2,000 face masks to Oklahoma’s Bacone College. He even made custom “Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self” t-shirts featuring images from his “Check Yo Self” music video with masks photoshopped over his face. Proceeds from those shirts went to frontline healthcare workers.

THR also reports that this is the second time Cube has dropped out of a movie in the past few months. He also left Flint Strong, though it’s unclear if that was also related to not wanting to get the vaccine.