Even though Drake’s acting days are far behind him, his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation continues to be a hot topic. For starters, no rapper has shifted gears from actor to rapper with ease.
At the start of Drake’s rap career, many fans had a hard time separating him from his former teenage character. And it often caused plenty of jokes about the character Jimmy to shift over into Drake’s career as a rapper. The internet nickname “Wheelchair Jimmy” was born along with memes that made their rounds on social media.
So, it’s very interesting to learn that Drake actually took legal action against the Degrassi writers about his former role. Per The AV Club, writer James Hurst revealed that Drake was determined to get his character out of the wheelchair.
“There was a letter from a law firm in Toronto, and it was from Aubrey. It was an odd letter that said, ‘Aubrey Graham will not return to ‘Degrassi’ Season 6 as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he’s out of the wheelchair,'” James told the outlet.
James confronted Drake about the letter at the time, but Drake reportedly claimed that he had no knowledge of it. After being asked about how he felt about the wheelchair, Drake allegedly shared that he was being made fun of by his rapper friends because of it. But, James took the moment to educate Drake about how important the character and his paralysis is.
"‘Aubrey, there’s some kid somewhere in a wheelchair, who’s completely ignored, who’s never on television, never gets represented,'” James said to Drake at the time. “‘I need you to represent this person. You’re the coolest kid on the show, and you can say there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair.'”
James went on to share that Drake was “so nice” and “apologetic” about the situation and decided to stop the legal proceedings. Fans of the teen drama know that Drake continued with the role until he left the show for good in 2009 to focus strictly on music.
In hindsight, James was right. Representation is key in entertainment and Drake being able to portray that role not only did wonders for his career (music and acting), it allowed other teenagers who may not feel represented to feel seen.
