America’s Got Talent: Dwyane Wade questions Gabrielle Union ‘firing’

It was recently announced that Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough were both exiting America’s Got Talent ahead of its new season next summer, and with that of course comes questions as to why. The two were only a part of the series for a year and because of that, there were questions aplenty as to whether or not they had an opportunity to build chemistry.

Well, some of these questions were complicated further by a Variety report this week, one that claimed that Union had spoken out about racially insensitive issues on the show’s set over the past year. That included an offensive joke allegedly made by guest judge Jay Leno as well as requests for Union to alter her appearance. NBC has yet to comment on some of the new reports that are out there, but someone notable today chose to do just that: Dwyane Wade. This is someone who may have inside knowledge for a couple of different reasons — he’s Union’s husband, and he just so happens to also be a former guest judge himself. He was not there for the same taping as Leno, but he got to see and observe the production environment.

In a series of posts on Twitter (posted together here for clarity), here is some of what Wade had to say on the issue:

“Men lie, Women lie, numbers don’t” Over this past year I’ve been approached by many people saying that my wife [Gabrielle Union] is the main reason they’ve started watching #AGT or that they love her insight and sincerity on the show. So when i got the news that my wife was being fired—my first question was obviously why!? I am still waiting on a good answer to that question. But if anyone knows [Union] or have heard of her you know she’s an advocate for our community and culture. As proud as i were of her being selected as a judge on #AGT— I am even more proud of her standing up for what she stands for and that’s US.

“So [cheers] to you [Union] on not losing sight of the lessons we’ve talked about teaching our daughter and for kicking a– while you were on that platform. Number 1 judge on one of the biggest shows in the world.”

While Wade doesn’t specific address the allegations in the Variety report, he does make it very clear that it was not Union’s decision to leave. There may be more information released in the days to come, but this is what we have at the moment.

What do you make of this whole America’s Got Talent story at the moment?

Be sure to share in the comments, and be sure to also stick around for some other news related to the series. (Photo: NBC.)