Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has always had a big personality, never afraid to speak his mind and push back against those who who disagree with his creative process. That was made abundantly clear during his time on Sons. It recently spilled over into the spinoff series, Mayans MC, resulting in Sutter being fired from the show by Disney and Fox for his behavior. Following his dismissal, a couple of letters from Sutter to his cast and crew and to his inner circle were published online, showing that, while he took responsibility for certain issues on set, he believed that the executives at Disney wanted him gone for some time.
A few days removed from the situation, Sutter finally sat down with Deadline to open up about the entire situation surrounding his dismissal. During the interview, Sutter made it known that the issues with Disney likely started with a joke he made at the company’s expense in the Season 2 premiere,
“Here’s what I did wrong on the studio network side, the reason why I had to go away. It all started with a joke. And not a very good one,” Sutter said. “There was a line in the Season 2 premiere. EZ [JD Pardo] and Coco [Richard Cabral] were getting off the bus at the school where the drugs were being processed. There was supposed to be a really gnarly playground out front. Filled with debris, dangerous looking swings, sharp objects, rusty jungle gym, etc. As they exited, Coco sees EZ’s distracted and says: Lighten up Boy Scout, and gesturing to the playground, says, We’re going to Disneyland. EZ replies: Yeah? Guess this is where Walt buried all the Jews he had killed. Coco comments: That’s dark man… And exits.”
Sutter went on to explain that the Disney joke was his way of rocking the boat and getting the higher-ups to maybe take a step back from the creative process. It helped get their attention, but didn’t quite produce the results that he’d hoped.
“Although the joke came out of character and in any other environment, would have been typical of my brand of dark humor, I’m not an idiot,” he continued. “I knew it would ring some bells. Whether real or imagined, I was already experiencing the tightening of the noose. It was manifesting in production issues, creating more hurdles, etc. I’ve learned over the years through trial and error – a lot of error – how to push back to protect story from corporate conformity. I discovered that when the restraints are tightening, to acquiesce and cave does not buy you trust and goodwill. It only clears the path for forward momentum. So when dealing with new restrictions often implemented by a change in personnel, it’s best to respond by lobbing a grenade. Yes, it stuns people, challenges their authority, often involves a call from a lawyer. But the result is usually a slowing down of the restrictive thrust. Breathing room. It forces people to really think about the demand they are making and why they are making it. Is it really necessary? It at least stops the most inane notes from reaching my desk.
“So when I was informed that the Walt, Jew killing line had to go, I agreed and changed it to…We’re going to Disneyland. And now EZ says, Yeah… if Mickey and Pluto were pedophiles.”
You can read Sutter’s full interview with Deadline here.
So far, neither Disney nor FX have made any mention of the future of Mayans MC without Sutter attached. The series is currently waiting on news about its third season. The Season 2 finale airs on Tuesday night.