Los Angeles, CA – 2019 seemed to be especially marred by loss in the entertainment world. Juice Wrld, Nipsey Hussle, Bushwick Bill, Ras G and celebrated New Mexico MC Wake Self were just a handful of those who lost their lives last year.
Actor John Witherspoon was another unexpected loss. The celebrated comedian passed away on October 29, 2019 at the age of 77, just as plans for Last Friday were underway.
Witherspoon’s co-star Ice Cube, who played Witherspoon’s son in all of the Friday films, was hit particularly hard by his passing.
On Tuesday (January 14), Cube commemorated his late friend — or “Pops” as he was known on screen — on Next Friday‘s 20th anniversary.
“20 years since Next Friday,” he captioned a photo of Witherspoon in character. “Miss you Pops.”
During Witherspoon’s funeral last November, Cube delivered a touching eulogy and revealed why Last Friday never fully came to fruition in the process.
“I really apologize to my friend for not getting the next Friday movie made,” he said. “It’s not my fault. Some dumbass people in Hollywood at New Line Cinema, if you wanna … you can email Toby Emmerich and Richard Brener if you feel like I feel. Yeah, you punks had two scripts and you didn’t wanna do them. That’s the real. We were tryin’ to make that movie for years and we couldn’t get it done. We got the other three and we got our memories.”
Last Friday was intended to be the fourth installment in the franchise. Cube said the script was done last May and Witherspoon had agreed to reprise his role as “Pops.”
Revisit Cube’s speech below.