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Jasmine Davis, who plays Imani on The Chi, announced that she will not be returning for the show’s fifth season.
“Due to the many inquiries I’m officially announcing,” she tweeted. “I will not be in season 5 of @SHOTheChi and I will no longer be part of #thechi / #disneyproduction Sending a BIG THANKS to all of my family and supporters/fans who have embraced me with along this journey.#selfworth.”
She didn’t explicitly say why she won’t be returning but when answering a fan’s question about her exit in the comments of her Instagram post, she implied that the decision to leave has a significant back story.
“All of you the reasons will be discussed at a later time,” she wrote. “What’s in [the] dark will come to the light.”
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Davis, who is the only transgender star on the show, joined the show during season four. She played the girlfriend of Trig, played by singer Luke James.
When she spoke with MADAMENOIRE, she was excited for season five to start filming and had high hopes for her character, Imani.
“I don’t know but I want to see some gun slinging with Imani,” she said. “I want to see a wedding with Imani. That’s what I want to see!”
On The Chi, transphobia was not deeply interwoven into Imani and Trig’s storyline, which humanized their relationship and strayed away from the typical hate that is embedded into these kinds of stories. Within the plot of the show, there was no tolerance of hate towards their relationship, which made the critically acclaimed drama more exceptional.
“The only reason we talked about her gender this season was to make a point about how people’s minds can open up,” Davis added. “We mainly want to focus on humanity and the only way you can do that is to normalize it and stop making it such a big shock and wow factor.”
