We love Pooch Hall! Every since we first laid eyes on him on The Game he became one of our favorite actors. As “Derwin Davis” we watched his ups and downs, trials and triumphs, and ultimate departure from the aforementioned series we held so dear. Although fans of The Game were sad to see Pooch go, we all knew he was more than likely moving on to bigger and better. BET, however, did not seem to take his departure too well.
Pooch reveals in a recent interview with The Jasmine Brand just how messy things got between him and BET!
via BlackLoop.com
Throwin’ Major Shade: During a recent interview with The Jasmine Brand, he shared details about his disheartening departure from The Game. The famed actor even revealed how the network shaded him for his decision. He admitted he already knew what he’d be up against and that his decision wouldn’t be accepted well. “So when we were in negotiating, I kind of was like, ‘Uh oh’, because I knew how BET got down and I knew how the Producers got down. It’s almost like you have this opportunity that we gave you, we want you to be loyal. It wasn’t like fly eagle fly. Although they tried to come to an agreement, things just didn’t work out. Since he was at the top of his game when he decided to leave, he admitted he battled with the decision. “When we tried to make it work. It was like, ‘Well we can’t do that.’ Part of me was like, ‘I don’t want to leave’ because when you start making that type of money and getting that type of love, I was literally like the mayor of Atlanta.”
Things Only Got Worse: When Pooch landed the role on Showtime’s Ray Donovan, the network stopped all communication. But not only did they stop communicating with him, he was also not invited to attend the BET Awards. “When that sh*t hit Deadline, the emails and phone calls just ceased. It was like crickets. Then my lawyer called and asked has anyone from BET or Business Affairs called you? I was just like, ‘We might as well focus on Showtime because I know what that means.” He continued, “It was like the doors closed and all of a sudden no more BET Awards, it was like nothing. My peoples were like, “are you still acting?” Pooch even admitted the side was kind of depressing. After the success he’d had on the show, he didn’t expect the blowback he received. “It was just like tough to deal with because all of a sudden it was almost like – the urban side of it was just like “Where’s our guy?” and it was just like Damn, man, BET let another one go in a sense. And yo, you go through sh*t. I don’t care how tough I am. A guy or whatever man. We have feelings and certain things hurt us and bother us and you know we’re not indestructible. So it messed with me. And I’m not afraid to say it. I kinda got depressed. Although Pooch had a great run on The Game, he made the decision to move on to Ray Donovan to advance his career.
We are not surprised to hear that BET was so shady. The network does have a history of personally going after or being petty with celebrities it was once quite fond of. Although celebs like Shad “Bow Wow” Moss and Stacey Dash deserved what they got, Pooch definitely does not. We are glad to see his career is still growing strong and thriving! Who knows, perhaps we will see him on a reboot of The Game in the not too distant future (pretty please universe!)!
