Late Actor John Witherspoon Once Revealed Surprisingly Small Pay The “Friday” Cast Received

Posted On : May 19, 2022
John Witherspoon

Late actor/comedian, John Witherspoon, kinda surprised us when he revealed how much, or rather, how little he actually made from his role on the “Friday” films. Let’s just say, he started from the bottom.

(Video) Witherspoon Made HOW MUCH For “Friday” Movie?!!

In a 2018 interview with Vlad TV, Witherspoon said that for the first “Friday” movie – a film that grossed $30 million at the box office, but only cost $3 million to produce – he earned a big fat check for $5,000! Yep, you read that correctly – Witherspoon said he earned a whopping $5 G’s – and according to Witherspoon, so did the rest of the “Friday” cast:

“We got paid five thousand dollars a piece to do that movie. … Everybody else on that show, they gon’ say they made more money, but ain’t nobody made no money on that,” said Witherspoon.

John Witherspoon’s anorexic-like “Friday” check was surprising, but we’ve gotta keep in mind that this was a new film and folks probably didn’t know how big it would end up becoming. So, maybe Ice Cube and New Line Cinema had to penny pinch on that particular “Friday” budget.

But Then This Happened…

Then the big payday came for Witherspoon…after the second “Friday” rolled around, John said he earned $100,000. Now that was more like it. And of course the checks only got better once the third “Friday” installment was being filmed…and Witherspoon ultimately was able to sing, “Well we’re movin’ on up, to the east si-i-ide…” when he got paid close to $1 million for that one.

Is A ‘Friday Part 4’ Still In The Works?

As far as a ‘Friday #4,’ there’s been much speculation, for several years, that one would soon be in the works. But for the longest time, it didn’t seem as if that would ever happen. Many fans also assumed Chris Tucker would return to the “Friday” franchise for his “Smokey” role, but unfortunately we will never see a new scene from the “Smokey” character again, according to the late John Witherspoon.

Witherspoon cleared those Tucker rumors up a few years ago, stating that after Warner Brothers bought out New Line Cinema, they do not want to do a “Friday pt. 4,” UNLESS Chris Tucker signs the deal. However, according to Witherspoon, Chris Tucker was like ‘Hell naw, I’m not doing it.’

 

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Apparently by 2018,Ice Cube, Witherspoon, and Mike Epps were cookin’ up something at that time, because a photo and video surfaced online of what appeared to show them filming on the set of a new “Friday.” However, it’s unclear if they were able to finish filming the alleged ‘Friday pt. 4’ film prior to John Witherspoon’s untimely passing from a heart attack on October 19, 2019. Only time will tell.

May “Friday” film legends, John Witherspoon; Tommy “Tiny” Lister (“Deebo”; died December 20, 2020); and A.J. Johnson (“Ezal”; died September 6, 2021), continue to rest in peace and power.

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