Donald Glover breaks silence over Phoebe Waller-Bridge’ shock exit from Mr and Mrs Smith

Donald Glover, known for his role in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” has spoken out about Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s unexpected departure from the Amazon Prime series.

Initially collaborating to reboot the 2005 action-comedy movie into a series, Waller-Bridge later exited due to “creative differences.” However, the specifics of these differences remained undisclosed until now.

“It’s a divorce in a weird way,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Wednesday.

“You’re like, ‘Oh shit, this should have worked.’ And this is just me, being honest, but I think a good relationship is one where you don’t waver from the extremely uncomfortable.

“And I don’t know if we were ever going to get to a place where we could be completely brutal to each other,” Glover continued, adding, “It might’ve just been cultural. You’ve got to think, ‘Fleabag’ was written entirely by her, they don’t really do writers rooms in the U.K.”

Originally, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was cast in Angelina Jolie’s role, while Donald Glover portrayed Brad Pitt’s character. However, although Glover retained his role, Waller-Bridge was replaced by Maya Erskine, and her involvement as a co-writer was terminated. Glover admitted that he reached a point where he felt “afraid” to express his concerns about the script with his co-star.

“You weren’t afraid to say something — but we also had the right to roast you,” he said of his time working on Atlanta, which he co-wrote before he joined Mr. and Mrs. Smith. “It’s just how we got the laughs … I don’t think we [Waller-Bridge] ever felt comfortable enough with each other. And that’s OK. That’s what happens when you’re two captains.”

Despite Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s departure from the project, Donald Glover suggested that “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” didn’t appear to be something that the British actress was initially enthusiastic about undertaking.

“I feel like Phoebe wasn’t fully in love with the thing,” he said. “But I feel really good about the fact that if the thing was feeling more like hers and she was like, ‘I just love this,’ I would have been like, ‘You should have it.’”

Waller-Bridge previously spoke out about her departure last year, stating that she “fully cared” about the show throughout her time on it.

“I worked on that show for six months fully in heart and mind and really cared about it — still care about it,” she told Vanity Fair in a 2023. “And I know it’s gonna be brilliant. But sometimes it’s about knowing when to leave the party. You don’t want to get in the way of a vision.”