Pawn Stars star Austin “Chumlee” Russell wanted to address the rumors that he’s been fired directly, so he went straight to the one man with the power to fire him — his boss, Rick Harrison — and asked him directly if that’s true, The Blast reports.
Rumors, Rumors, Rumors
Rumors are extremely prevalent in an entertainment space dominated by reality TV and real-life scandal. In the absence of hard facts, gossip and speculation can run rampant.
Such is the case with Chumlee, long considered one of the more colorful and popular characters on History’s Pawn Star s. Recently, Chumlee cleaned up some of his social media accounts — updating his bio, deleting old posts — as so many others do. However, he also removed references to his job on Pawn Stars , for reasons known only to him. However, Chumlee’s decisions to do so eventually set the rumor mill churning.
“Why did you delete your older posts? And the PAWN STARS description as well?” wrote one shocked user.
Chumlee, for his part, didn’t help to clarify his stance. He provided only a cryptic response.
“Because I wanted to,” he wrote.
No, Chumlee Isn’t Fired
To put to rest the rumors that he’s been canned, Chumlee went to the man who signs his paycheck, Gold & Silver Pawn Shop owner Rick Harrison. Chumlee got straight to the point, telling his boss, “Rick there’s a rumor that I got fired,” to which Rick responded, “You didn’t get fired.”
Then, Chumlee asked, “Do you wish you could fire me?”
Harrison responded, “Sometimes, but I love ya.”
You can watch the exchange in the video below.
Back in 2018, as was reported at the time by The Inquisitr , Chumlee announced to his fans that he was embarking on a plan to lose weight. Specifically, he hoped at the time to lose 150 pounds via gastric sleeve surgery, much of which he’d gained when he quit smoking. It is not uncommon for those quitting the habit to gain weight.
At the time, Chumlee seemed to sense that his career with Pawn Stars might have an expiration date, either via the show getting canceled or due to the loss of his own job. He noted that he was running a successful candy store at the time, so he had a career to fall back on. He also noted that — if and when his Pawn Stars gig dried up — he’d like to take some acting classes, perhaps landing parts in other TV shows.