Contents
Tuesday was a great day for fans of The Pitt (Pittbulls, I’m assuming), as HBO’s hit medical drama earned 13 Emmy nominations for its first season. Looming over the celebration, however, is the departure of Tracy Ifeachor from the show, which was announced last week and has since resulted in rumors about her religious beliefs, a kind of weird quote from Noah Wyle, and a statement from Ifeachor’s self-described “very gay publicist.” Time to put on your scrubs and your rubber gloves, we’re going to try and untangle this situation.
Why did Tracy Ifeachor leave The Pitt?
On July 10, Variety reported that Ifeachor, who played Dr. Heather Collins on the show’s first season, would not be returning for the show’s second season. Sources told the outlet that this was a decision made by the creative team, and that Ifeachor was “not leaving The Pitt of her own accord.” The same day, Deadline reported that Ifeachor had been cast in M. Night Shyamalan’s new film, Remain, which one Reddit post pointed to as a plausible explanation for Ifeachor’s departure.
Okay, so that is a fairly normal Reddit post. That is, until you see the top comment: “GOOD. She’s a member of a super homophobic and deranged evangelical mega church in London that has ‘gay exorcisms’. She even spoke at one of their events in March. Talented actress and a great character but BYE.” Oh!
In other Reddit comments and on X, people speculated that the reason Ifeachor’s character was only in 11 of the season’s 16 episodes was because she disapproved of her character, Dr. Collins, having had an abortion.
Is any of this true? Well, it does seem like Ifeachor has ties to Jesus House, a conservative London church that has long been against abortion and marriage equality. In March, she shared on Instagram that it was “an honor” to speak at a women’s conference held by the church.
So what’s the deal with Jesus House?
Let’s go back to the “gay exorcisms” thing. In 2009, the now-defunct liberal Christian think tank Ekklesia accused Jesus House of performing exorcisms on gay people in a post that has since been removed from the internet. According to reports that cited the now-deleted post, the church said the exorcisms were “done only with the calm consent of the person concerned.” Jesus House later denied that they performed exorcisms on gay people but did state that “the church holds a traditional orthodox interpretation of the Bible in relation to marriage, sexual relationships, and family life.”
In 2021, amid backlash for British prime minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Jesus House, the church’s pastor clarified (sort of) that “we do not engage in any form of conversion therapy. We, as a church, provide appropriate pastoral support, including prayer, to all our members, whatever life situations or circumstances they find themselves in.” He also added that he was “reassured that so many Christians around the world hold to the traditional biblical teaching on marriage.”
Click here to preview your posts with PRO themes ››
In terms of Jesus House’s stance on reproductive rights, a 2017 report from The Independent links out to a now-deleted page on the church’s website, which apparently compared abortion to murder. “We believe that the baby you carry in your womb, no matter how young or small, is a living human being … Abortion is the taking of that life,” the page reportedly read. So, it doesn’t seem like an amazing organization to be associated with.
What has Ifeachor said about leaving the show?
The day before her departure was announced, Ifeachor posted a Reel with a caption about how it was “a blessing” to be on the show and “an absolute privilege” to play Dr. Collins.
View this post on Instagram
In the wake of the scuttlebutt about her religious beliefs and possible reasons for leaving the show, Ifeachor’s publicist gave a statement to (of all places) The Mirror US denying any hard feelings or homophobia.
“These claims are entirely false,” the publicist said of the rumors around Ifeachor’s departure. “First, Tracy was not fired. Dr. Heather Collins was simply not written in as a part of season two, which is a creative decision that has been confirmed by HBO.” The statement went on: “Furthermore, any rumors about Tracy participating in any discrimination through her religion are completely incorrect, defamatory, and hurtful. This gossip could not be further from the truth. She is a woman who leads with love, kindness, and compassion, and as her very gay publicist, I can say that I see this daily, firsthand.”
Has Noah Wyle said anything?
You bet. In a Tuesday interview with Deadline about his Emmy nomination, Wyle was asked about Ifeachor’s absence in season two, which he attributed to nothing more than storylines. “I mean, we’ve all been sort of amused by the speculation about what everybody thinks might be a reason,” the actor explained, “But truthfully, we loved the actress. We enjoyed having her with us very much. She’s gotten really big and we will miss her.” Do with that vagueness what you will.
The second season of The Pitt is slated to come out early next year, which gives us (and the geniuses behind the Pitt tag on AO3) plenty of time to speculate how they’ll be writing Dr. Collins off of the show. My guess is that it will be boring (she got an amazing fellowship in Milwaukee), but my long-shot guess is that they really milk their unique format — each subsequent season will just happen to take place on a day when Dr. Collins is sick or not on the schedule.
