Andrea Bordeaux's Run The World castmates spoke out on her exit from the hit Starz show for the first time. Bresha Webb, Corbin Reid, and Amber Stevens West spoke with ESSENCE while attending Peacock's Bel-Air premiere event, and showed their support for their former castmate.
Last weekend, news broke that Bordeaux was asked to leave the show after no resolution could be reached between the actress and Lionsgate, Run The World's production company, over their newly established vaccination requirements.
"It's unfortunate," Webb said of Bordeaux's exit. "We all became her family, and we all became very good friends. It shows – the chemistry in the show is real."
"So it is unfortunate, but the show must go on," she continued. "We're proud to do the show. We love our show, we love the people that make the show, and we want to keep everyone as safe as possible."
Production mandates, which are quickly becoming industry standard, call for all cast and filming zone crew to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to shooting season 2 of the hit Harlem-based sisterhood comedy. Bordeaux claimed in an Instagram post shortly after the announcement was made that the production company made no attempt to find a workable solution to address her concerns over the vaccine requirement, and instead fired her from the show. There is reportedly no plan to recast her character Ella.
"She felt very strongly about her convictions and where she stood morally, and she felt like she had to make a choice for her," Reid said.
"And it wasn't an easy choice," West added. "I will say, she had a hard time with this."
"It wasn't easy. We all talked, and we support her one hundred percent. We will miss her, we love her, and we wish her nothing but the best."
Despite the unfortunate exit of their good friend and cast member, the ladies are gearing up to film and excited to bring the fans a new season of the show.
"We're going back, full steam ahead," Webb said. "We're going to do a great second season. There's a lot more to look forward to and a lot more to learn about our characters, and you never know what could happen."