Actress Thandiwe Newton has denied claims she was fired from the new Magic Mike movie after a "vicious" fight with Channing Tatum about the infamous Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap.
Witnesses told The Sun a heated argument on set escalated to "astonishing" levels, causing Tatum to walk out on filming.
However, Newton's representatives have reportedly denied the allegations saying they were "completely inaccurate".
After Newton's departure executives had to postpone work on the third Magic Mike movie 'Magic Mike's Last Dance' and refilm the last 11 days of filming in London - costing thousands of dollars.
The English actress was set to play a leading role alongside co-star Tatum who is also the producer of the film. Newton's role has since been re-casted, with Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek taking the slot.
The film's production company Warner Bros. Pictures released a statement stating Newton left due to "family matters".
"Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros. Pictures' Magic Mike's Last Dance to deal with family matters," a spokesperson said.
However, witnesses claimed she left due to a fight with Tatum about actor Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith's spouse Jada Pinkett-Smith's alopecia at the 2022 Oscars.
"Channing Tatum is the producer and number one on set. Thandiwe Newton is the number two star. But 11 days into shooting and it’s all over," a witness told The Sun. "They fell out over the debacle at The Oscars. I was on set. I watched her and watched him. They were in and out of the house where we were filming having this confrontation."
"It was a tense exchange of words, but suddenly it escalated - Channing got into this car and he disappeared."
The witness claimed Tatum said after the fight he won't work with Newton anymore.
The film's director Steven Soderbergh didn't take a side with the source saying he tried to calm things down during the fight but is a "very quiet" man.
Tatum has reportedly returned to the United States and crew members received an email informing them shooting had been postponed.
The outlet reported Newton is planning to sue studio chiefs at the films production company Warner Bros. Pictures, but sources claim her position is untenable after the fight became "unimaginably vicious".
