Did Jenna Ortega just give Netflix the big “F U”? It appears so.
When Jenna Ortega comes to mind, it’s often in connection with her standout role in Wednesday, the Netflix series that has pushed boundaries in the streaming realm. A significant part of its success can be attributed to Jenna’s portrayal of the character, alongside director Tim Burton’s vision. As highlighted by Variety, Tim Burton’s Wednesday quickly became a sensation, amassing 5.988 billion minutes viewed within its first five days on the platform, making it the second-highest streaming week ever recorded.
Now ranking as the second most-watched show on Netflix, trailing only Squid Game, Wednesday has propelled Jenna Ortega, along with her massive social media following of 70 million, to the upper echelons of Hollywood stardom.
Boldly venturing into the realm of horror, Jenna has emerged as a prominent figure in the genre. In the Scream series, she portrayed the role of Tara Carpenter, though she has recently departed the franchise along with Melissa Barrera. Her horror filmography includes notable projects such as X, YOU, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and Insidious: Chapter 2.Many of these are on Netflix, which shows that, like Millie Bobby Brown has built up her resume since Stranger Things with the platform, Ortega has been doing the same.
In essence, the show focuses primarily on Wednesday Addams.
With her pale complexion, intense brown eyes, and meticulously styled jet-black hair fashioned into two long braids, along with bangs framing her face, Wednesday possesses a striking appearance. Though somewhat unsettling, her unique look captivates the audience, drawing them into the world of oddities.
In the series, Wednesday enrolls at Nevermore Academy, an institution catering to the misunderstood and supernatural. Here, she hones her abilities to see into the future and unravels a local murder mystery.
The show unfolds as a coming-of-age narrative with eccentric twists and turns. It diverges from the typical teenage high school drama, a deviation characteristic of Tim Burton’s creations. Yet, it is precisely this uniqueness, coupled with the starring performance by Jenna Ortega, that has propelled the show to become one of Netflix’s most-watched, shattering records within its initial week of streaming.
One of the subtle potlines surrounded Ortega and Percy Hynes White, who played the bruiting artist Xavier Thorpe. Wednesday and Xavier have a palpable chemistry bond throughout the first season, and her hate for him just shows how much she cares. In the final episode, we can see the two exchange phone numbers before heading home for a break — hinting at what would have likely been the long-burn relationship of the series.
Then, things took a sharp turn.
Percy Hynes White has purportedly been removed from the cast of the second season of Netflix’s Wednesday, following accusations of assaulting a woman nine months ago.
As per The Daily Mail, a source close to White’s family affirmed that the actor has been excluded from the upcoming season.
Apart from Wednesday, White had roles in The Twilight Zone and The Gifted before facing allegations of assaulting a woman at a Toronto party.
The accusations surfaced in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) by an anonymous social media user on January 18. The poster alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by White at a party he hosted and accused him of deliberately attempting to intoxicate women to engage in sexual activities with him.
“Percy is a wonderful young man; that’s the truth,” a source told DailyMail.com. “He never took part in any of the false claims again him, which were on Twitter and never followed up or substantiated.
“Percy is a respectful, gracious, talented actor, a true professional. He’s unfailingly polite to all, including the crew and his fans, most of whom are loyal to him, as they should be. For Netflix to drop him from the show is a disgrace. It was just false rumors. It’s just not right. Percy will be just fine,” added the source. “People in the business know his character and talent. Netflix and the show Wednesday, should be ashamed of themselves for treating him so unfairly.”
White has strongly denied the allegations against him, describing it as “a campaign of misinformation” in an Instagram post he shared in June.
“Earlier this year, somebody I’ve never met started a campaign of misinformation about me online,” the actor wrote. Because of this, my family has been doxxed, and my friends have received death threats. Underage photos of me were used, and examples of me acting in character were presented as hateful. My friend Jane was falsely portrayed as a victim, and her attempts to set the record straight have been ignored. She gave me permission to include her in this message. The rumours are false. I can’t accept the portrayal of me as someone bigoted, or criminally negligent of people’s safety.
These are the kind of baseless, harmful claims that can create mistrust toward victims. It’s very distressing to know that this misinformation has upset people. I’m really thankful for everyone who’s stood by me and helped share the facts. Harassment of my family, friends and coworkers needs to stop please. Thank you for taking the time to read this.”
Regardless of what Percy said, Netflix did write him out of the show, and Ortega noted that in season two, which is currently filming in Ireland, Wednesday will not have a strong love focus, and things will get a lot darker. While Ortega did not quit the show, she certainly waved bye to her loyalty to the streaming platform.
This is something Ortega also did when she walked from Scream after the film fired her co-star Melissa Barrera unjustly.
Now, it seems Ortega has sided with Percy as she is starring opposite him in a new romance!
First look at ‘WINTER SPRING SUMMER OR FALL, starring Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White.
The film is described as a teen love story about a Harvard-bound girl genius and a laid-back guy who find each other in their final year of high school.
First look at ‘WINTER SPRING SUMMER OR FALL, starring Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White.
The film is described as a teen love story about a Harvard-bound girl genius and a laid-back guy who find each other in their final year of high school. pic.twitter.com/RHuMYJwsui
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 17, 2024
“The movie I’m doing in Utah right now is with her [Jenna] as well,” Percy told Popternative in December 2022, saying that they had “a fun time together” on Wednesday‘s set and that he “loves” working with Jenna.
After Percy disclosed that he was collaborating with Jenna once more, fans began delving into the yet-to-be-officially-announced film. A Twitter user posted images of the movie’s project information, unveiling it as a young adult romantic dramedy titled Winter Spring Summer or Fall, depicting the love story of two teenagers named Remi and Barnes.
While the two do work well together, Percy’s replies to the X post above are already troubling.
Comments such as “I thought Percy was some weirdo”, “Hmmm enough time has not passed, don’t think we forgot”, and “i thought he was canceled?” as many do not know that the “victim” actually spoke out and stated none of what was said was true, as you can see below.
Nope pic.twitter.com/VNWX2cMDYA
— Ravens/Jenna Ortega stan 🇵🇸🍉 (@BmoreBro96) April 17, 2024
Tiffany Paulsen is helming the feature film, which commenced filming in Salt Lake City, Utah, by the end of October 2022, as indicated on her Instagram. Furthermore, in December 2022, a fan on TikTok spotted Jenna and Percy filming on set.
Are you a fan of Percy Hynes White and Jenna Ortega as an on-screen couple?
