#Nicole Beharie Says She Was Blacklisted After Sleepy Hollow Exit: ‘I Lost Out On A Lot Of Jobs’

Nicole Beharie once starred on FOX’s Sleepy Hollow, but to the surprise of fans, her character was killed off on Sleepy Hollow Season 3. 

While it seemed like there was something going on behind the scenes, that information was not revealed at the time. 

The actress has now opened up about that time of her life, and how health problems paved the way for her exit, while also claiming she was not given the same treatment as her co-workers. 

“My co-star and I were both sick at the same time but I don’t believe that we were treated equally,” she told the San Diego Tribune.

“He was allowed to go back to England for a month [to recover while] I was given Episode 9 to shoot on my own.”

“I pushed through it and then by the end of that episode I was in urgent care,” Beharie continued.

“All the doctors, including the doctors that the studio was sending, were all confirming, ‘Hey, she can’t work right now.’”

The beloved actress shed more light on the situation to the New York Times. 

“Months ensued and I got a lawyer. I got my hours down and worked through it,” she explained.

“But then I developed an autoimmune condition. I had C. difficile, which had me on eight different prescription medications.”

“Sometimes I think that some people I was working with didn’t like that I was unwell but loved by the audience.”

“Everyone of colour on that show was seen as expendable and eventually let go,” she added. 

Beharie says that she struggled to secure jobs after her time on the drama series because she was labeled “difficult.”

“I never wanted to talk about this until the resentment and bitterness was out of my system,” she told the outlet, saying she was “labeled as problematic and blacklisted by some people.”

“I tried to get work afterwards and people were like, ‘We heard you were difficult.’” she added, “But no one can say I was late or unprofessional or negative… I lost out on a lot of jobs and opportunities because of how somebody labeled me.”

Sleepy Hollow was ultimately canceled just one season after Beharie’s controversial exit. The show’s ratings dropped dramatically. 

Beharie now stars in Miss Juneteenth. 

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.