Roswell, New Mexico co-showrunner Carina Adly Mackenzie is exiting the CW series she developed ahead of the sci-fi drama’s season 3.
MacKenzie announced her departure from the show via social media on Friday, July 10th. “This week, I made the difficult decision to resign from my role on Roswell, New Mexico. I obviously don’t take this decision lightly, but ultimately due to fundamental differences, I’m departing and entrusting RNM to capable hands,” wrote MacKenzie. “I’m so proud of what we built over the last two years, and I believe in the heart and soul of the show: asking tough questions, striving to make the world better, amplifying marginalized voices, and fighting the good fight.”
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that there had been friction between MacKenzie and some of the actors, including series star Jeanine Mason, during the first two seasons of the show. But MacKenzie made it clear in her statement that her decision to exit the series “has nothing to do with any of the cast, crew, or writers” who she all loves “in an epic forever handprints-on-my-soul kinda way.”
MacKenzie also pointed out that she and Mason are in good terms. “I think any fan who joined us for a glass of wine on Instagram live during this shutdown knows there’s no ‘tension,’” MacKenzie said of her relationship with Mason. “So I’m just gonna go back to texting with her about the home reno projects we’re both working on and roll my eyes at that boring attempt to pit women against each other. What year is it?”
The Hollywood Reporter story also claimed that MacKenzie typically spent an unusual amount of time on the set in New Mexico, away from the show’s Los Angeles-based writers’ room — a habit that reportedly upset some writers. In her statement, MacKenzie confirmed that she wasn’t in the writers’ room as much as she’d have liked to be, explaining that “shooting on location while writing in LA is so hard.” Though she thanked her “co-showrunner/friend/partner/champion Chris Hollier” for helming the show with her, MacKenzie didn’t comment if her absence in the writers’ room had indeed caused some difficulties for some of the show’s scribes.
MacKenzie’s announcement that she’s leaving the series came more than two weeks after she fired off a series of tweets accusing ITV in the U.K. of homophobia, biphobia and bigotry for cutting selective sex scenes from her show.
Really, really, REALLY upset to hear that @itv cut out a (pretty tame) love scene between two men and kept a (much more raunchy) heterosexual sex scene in their airing of an episode of #RoswellNM tonight. There are a lot of angry tears happening at my house tonight.
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) June 24, 2020
It’s just blatant homophobia/biphobia/bigotry and I’m so, so sorry and so, so angry. Frankly I’d be fine never watching another straight white couple bone on TV EVER AGAIN. ???
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) June 24, 2020
Also every single beat of that montage was painstakingly matched to the song lyrics and I was incredibly proud of it so I’m mad on that level too. I’m so sorry y’all. pic.twitter.com/n5cBAbIn7M
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) June 24, 2020
A source told The Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros. had to do “damage control” with a foreign distributor following the incident. MacKenzie didn’t mention anything particular about the incident in her statement, which you can read in full below.
I’m gonna let him fly. pic.twitter.com/lA2ghvzuwP
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) July 10, 2020
It’s not yet clear whether Warner Bros. will have someone to replace MacKenzie as a co-showrunner or will let Hollier take full responsibility for the show.
Roswell, New Mexico season 3 is set to premiere on The CW in midseason 2021.