Glee star Matthew Morrison was slated to be a new judge on this season of So You Think You Can Dance, but viewers won't be seeing him on the show for long.
The 43-year-old television and Broadway regular was asked to leave the show by Fox producers for what the network is calling "competition production protocol" violations.
In a public statement the former judge provided to Variety, he said:
“Having the opportunity to be a judge on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was an incredible honor for me."
"Therefore, it is my deepest regret to inform you that I will be leaving the show."
"After filming the audition rounds for the show and completing the selection of the 12 finalists, I did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly."
Morrison continued:
“I cannot apologize enough to all involved and I will be watching alongside you all on what I know will be one of the best seasons yet.”
Fans and viewers are dying to know the details about his departure.
One person tweeted:
"SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MATTHEW MORRISON DID."
\u201cSOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MATTHEW MORRISON DID.\u201d— Kim Rogers, Fan Attorney (@Kim Rogers, Fan Attorney) 1653701545
Someone else said:
"Why am I dying to know what Matthew Morrison did?"
\u201cWhy am I dying to know what Matthew Morrison did?\u201d— (((Marisa Miller-McD)) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1 (@(((Marisa Miller-McD)) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf1) 1653856157
With such vague insight into the issue, speculations about the singer, dancer extraordinaire are abound.
One person posted:
"I would really like to focus on something petty like why Matthew Morrison left SYTYCD outta nowhere and what the 'minor infraction' was (my guess: he hit on a contestant and got turned down and reported, and good riddance)."
\u201cI would really like to focus on something petty like why Matthew Morrison left SYTYCD outta nowhere and what the \u201cminor infraction\u201d was (my guess: he hit on a contestant and got turned down and reported, and good riddance)\u201d— Robin Campbell (@Robin Campbell) 1653697691
Another person tweeted:
"If Matthew Morrison's infraction really was minor he should just say what it was and put to rest all the speculation that he did something really bad."
\u201cIf Matthew Morrison's infraction really was minor he should just say what it was and put to rest all the speculation that he did something really bad\u201d— Melissa Siegel (@Melissa Siegel) 1653708554
Another person said:
"Matthew Morrison kicked off of #SYTYCD because of violating 'competition production protocols'."
"Was the violation stealing someone's arrangement without giving them credit and then telling them to be grateful for the 'exposure', like Ryan Murphy did routinely on #Glee?"
\u201cMatthew Morrison kicked off of #SYTYCD because of violating "competition production protocols". \n\nWas the violation stealing someone's arrangement without giving them credit and then telling them to be grateful for the "exposure", like Ryan Murphy did routinely on #Glee?\u201d— FunBobby (@FunBobby) 1653862521
\u201cSo I'm gonna just assume Matthew Morrison got fired from SYTYCD because he slept with contestants, until I'm proven wrong about that.\u201d— William Bruce West (@William Bruce West) 1653702333
Although the actor will be featured in the first few episodes which were pre-taped, his replacement will be taking over for the live performances. Who that person is has yet to be revealed by the network.
Fox shared:
"[We] will soon announce a new judge to the series for the next wave of the competition starting on June 15th featuring the Top 12 performing for America’s vote."
Confusion ensued.
\u201c"Didn't follow competition production protocols preventing me from judging the competition fairly" is a long-winded yet meaningless statement on why you'd exit a show #SYTYCD #matthewmorrison\u201d— Eric (@Eric) 1653696436
\u201cMatthew Morrison joining and then being fired from SYTYCD has got to be a social experiment or something,, where is the correlation\u201d— Madison Weed (@Madison Weed) 1653926147
\u201c@PopCrave @Variety naurrr i need the tea cause the season barely just started so what did he do??\ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udc40\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1653699369
According to an show insider, Morrison's infractions were only minor.