After Degrassi writer and producer James Hurst opened up about Drake’s alleged concern with the hit TV show and his character using a wheelchair, the organization Wheelchairs 4 Kids is now speaking out.
Madeline Robinson, executive director of the org, told TMZ Monday that Drizzy—then known best as rising actor Aubrey Graham—and his role as Jimmy Brooks were both very helpful to children who used wheelchairs. Robinson said that not only did seeing Drake on the small screen make kids feel cool, he helped them absorb some important representation on TV.
“When was the last time you went to a mall and saw a kid in a wheelchair hanging out with other kids?” Robinson asked the publication, before saying it’s not often.
Robinson’s comments, which include how she feels it’s “great when we see our kids being represented,” come after Hurst’s conversation with the A.V. Club, when he shared that a years-old letter reportedly from Drake’s team threatened he would “not return to Degrassi Season 6 as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he’s out of the wheelchair.” The sixth season premiered in November 2006 in Canada.
“I said, ‘Get [Drake] down here,’” the producer recalled. “He came in and was like, ‘What letter? I don’t know about that.’ And I said, ‘All right, I understand. But how do you feel about the wheelchair?’ He’s like, ‘All my friends in the rap game say I’m soft because I’m in a wheelchair.’ And I said, ‘Well, tell your friends in the rap game that you got shot. How much harder can you get? You got shot, and you’re in a wheelchair.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’”
Hurst explained that Drizzy “instantly backed down” and that he told the rapper he really needed him to “represent” the character.
“’You’re the coolest kid on the show, and you can say there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair,’” he remembered telling Drake.
Check out the A.V. Club’s full Degrassi: The Next Generation oral history here, which features interviews with several important players in the show.
