Emerson Phillips
Actor Michael Morrison is the latest victim of America’s cancel culture, and he’s standing up for himself by defending his actions and politely criticizing his critics.
Videos by Rare
Morrison was recently fired as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance for allegedly sending “flirty” text messages to a contestant on the dance competition show.
He took to Instagram yesterday to post a video of himself with the caption: “Just to clarify …”
The video shows him visibly upset that he was dismissed from the show for what he described as not adhering to the “competition production protocols.”
And he read the text message that he says got him fired.
“It’s really unfortunate to have to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously,” the married 43-year-old began.
“I have nothing to hide, so in the interest of transparency, I will read to you the one message that I wrote to a dancer on the show: ‘Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things.’ The end.”
Morrison explained that he simply wanted to connect with the contestant because they have a “mutual respect” for a choreographer he’s known for many years.
“I was trying to help her get a job as a choreographer on the show,” he said, shaking his head.
An anonymous source told PEOPLE that a contestant on the show reported the message to show producers as potentially problematic.
PEOPLE also noted that sources close to Morrison said he did not know about the no-contact rule in his judge’s contract and that they heard he worked on dance shows in the U.K. where it was encouraged to collaborate with contestants and thought it would not be an issue.
A Fox source said that Morrison was dismissed from the series because he “had an inappropriate relationship with a contestant.”
“They didn’t have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media,” the source said. “She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation.” The source added that Morrison and the unidentified female contestant “never met up off-set, it was just messages that crossed the line.”
“It’s devastating that we live in this world where gossip rules and people’s lives are being thrown around as clickbait,” Morrison said. “I think this is much bigger than me – this story. Gossip is toxic, and it is destroying our society. We need to do better.”
He should have known better. He texted a message that was certainly questionable as to the motive. I think it was completely inappropriate and that in essence, he lied.
Regardless of whether or not it was “flirty”, it could be construed as him being partial to her during the contest. Definitely against the rules.
Offering to help a contestant whom he thought showed promise is in no way flirty. Get a life people!