Thandiwe Newton Departs ‘Magic Mike’ Role & Denies Fight With Star Channing Tatum

The actress Thandiwe Newton has dropped from the film Magic Mike’s Last Dance after almost two weeks of filming. After reports emerged that the Westworld star left the set because of a fight with the franchise’s star Channing Tatum, Newton denied those rumors in a statement through a representative.

“Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros Pictures’ Magic Mike’s Las Dance to deal with family members,” her spokesperson announced on Thursday. They also referred to stories about the alleged fight as “completely inaccurate.”

The alleged fight was first suggested by The Sun, which said that Newton and Tatum broke out in an argument while discussing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards last March. It was also claimed that Tatum was particularly angered and was heard saying “I am not working with her anymore.”

It’s been revealed that Newton’s character will now be played by Salma Hayek. Newton’s and now Hayek’s new female character is reportedly a major role being developed for the third film in this highly successful series. Tatum told People that for this installment, “I want to have an equal, if not even more centralized female for Mike to really play off of … really let the movie be able a female’s experience and not Mike’s experience because it has been so much about Mike and the guys’ experience.”

The first Magic Mike was released in 2012. Based on Tatum’s experiences as a male stripper prior to his acting success, it was directed by Steven Soderbergh and grossed a staggering total of $167,221,571 in worldwide sales against its modest indie budget. The sequel, Magic Mike XXL came out to slightly less fanfare but still a relatively massive box-office draw. For Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which was announced in November 2021, Soderbergh is returning to the director’s chair after departing for XXL to see this third and potentially final installment through.