Last week, Disney Plus announced that Emilio Estevez (The Public, Bobby), who played the character Coach Gordon Bombay, will not be back to season two of the series Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Accordingly, the sudden exit of Estevez was due to his failure to comply with Disney studio’s vaccine policy. However, Estevez released a personal statement to reject such claims, restating creative differences to be the main reason that led to his exit, via Deadline. Along with his rebuttal, Estevez also shared exclusive details of his battle with COVID-19 and how he finished shooting the first season of Mighty Ducks while suffering from long-haul Covid symptoms.  

Emilio Estevez Speaks Out About His ‘Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ Exit, Reveals Long-Haul Covid https://t.co/vcq12qOJuA

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) November 8, 2021

Estevez began his statement by saying “I am not anti-vaxx. Full stop. I take this pandemic very seriously, and I am often teased about my continued following of the safety protocols and my abundance of caution.” In his statement, Estevez assured his attitude on Covid vaccinations by stressing, “I am not anti-vaxx,” adding that “simply put, I am anti-bully”. 

Both Coach Gordon Bombay and Estevez is no stranger to fans of the Mighty Ducks franchise. Estevez originated the role of hockey coach Gordon Bombay in the three 90s Mighty Ducks films the series is based on. He also responded to Mighty Ducks franchise fans by saying that “I am as disappointed as you are” about exiting the show. 

Following the claims, Estevez revealed that he contracted Covid during February 2020, when he was filming the pilot episode of the Mighty Ducks series. “I wasn’t feeling 100%. I chalked it up to being on a cold set and on an ice rink day after day.” He received a diagnose of Covid on March 17, 2020, when he drove back to Los Angeles from Vancouver. Although the filming of Mighty Ducks did not begin until late summer, Estevez said his long-haul Covid symptoms had tortured him during the shooting process. 

“The legacy of the franchise was more important to me than my own health,” said Estevez, “In retrospect, I wrongly chose to protect the show over being transparent about having contracted Covid-19.” In the end, he reaffirmed that “My exit from the show was due to a myriad of creative differences – any other narrative is false.” 

Estevez’s departure leaves the series to co-leads Lauren Graham (Parenthood, Evan Almighty) and Brady Noon (Good Boys, Marry Me). Other actors include Swayam Bhatia (Succession, Master of None), Taegen Burns (Michael Jackson: Searching For Neverland, Blue Ridge), Bella Higginbotham (Troop Zero), Luke Islam (13: The Musical, America’s Got Talent), Kiefer O’Reilly (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, All Yours), Maxwell Simkins (The Chicken Squad, The Sleepover), and DJ Watts (Black Panther, Faith Under Fire).

Season one of Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, which premiered in March, is available to stream on Disney+.