Damon Wayans' Lethal Weapon exit announcement reportedly blindsided everyone, especially after solid Week 2 ratings

Deadline

Wayans is signed on for six seasons of the Fox action drama, which is performing well following Clayne Crawford's firing. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reports that Wayans' comments to Electronic Urban Report amounted to bombshell news to the studio and producers. "I hear that ever since Wayans statement went public, there has been a flurry of talks between the actor, his team and the studio," reports Andreeva. "He is clearly very emotional in the interview, so I hear the show’s producers and executives wanted to find out whether his comments were a reaction to physical and mental exhaustion or a well thought-out and final decision. The outcome of these conversations will impact the future of Lethal Weapon as Fox had been mulling a short — I hear probably two-episode — back order for the series, likely bringing its third season to 15 episodes." Andreeva adds: "It will be hard for the series to survive the exit of both of its leads in short succession, and to justify being called Lethal Weapon without Riggs (Crawford) or Murtaugh (Wayans).