Ice Cube has never been one to back down against authority. In fact, his introduction and diffusion into popular culture through N.W.A. was based almost entirely on that rebellious attitude (I don’t need to name the song I’m thinking of, right?). And in the decades since his time with the infamous rap group came to a close, the performer’s still refused to keep his mouth shut when he’s mad. And boy is he mad about Last Friday.
The rapper/actor has been trying to get a fourth Friday movie off the ground for quite some time now. And as recently as last June, Ice Cube still expressed hope in releasing the sequel by 2020. Since then, unfortunately, one of the series’ pinnacle stars, John Witherspoon, passed away from coronary heart disease.
Speaking at his funeral, Ice Cube took the opportunity to voice his frustrations – specifically targeting the folks at New Line Cinema – apologizing to Witherspoon for not being able to get Last Friday made before his death.
“I really apologize to my friend for not getting the next Friday movie made. It’s not my fault. Some dumbass people in Hollywood, at New Line Cinema.”
Ice Cube went on to explain that Last Friday has been in development hell for the last several years. Apparently, he went as far as putting together two different scripts for the project, but executives at New Line just never gave it the green light. Here’s how he worded it:
“Gave you punks two scripts and you all didn’t want to do them. That’s the real. We was trying to make that movie for years and we couldn’t get it done, but we got the other three, and we got our memories, and we got our love.”
With all of this said, it’s important to note that not all of Ice Cube’s time was spent bickering at Hollywood suits. In fact, the ten-minute speech, as you can see in the latter half of the quote up above, was filled with love and adoration for his longtime collaborator and friend.
Rest easy, John Witherspoon.