Black Lightning: China Anne McClain Planned to Exit Ahead of Cancellation

The end of Black Lightning was announced by The CW last week.

But one of the stars of the show was gearing up to exit ahead of the announcement.

In an Instagram Video posted on Saturday, China Anne McClain, who plays Jennifer Pierce, announced she was leaving the series "regardless of if it went on or not."

The actress confirmed she did not know the series would be ending with its fourth season until the news was announced.

“What I did know and have known along with the rest of the cast since before we even started shooting this season is that I am leaving the show. And was leaving the show. This was going to be my last season.”

McClain will also not be back as a regular during the final season, announcing she is only signed on for a limited number of episodes.

The actress did not delve into her decision to leave, but did leave some hints.

“There’s been a lot to happen over this quarantine, and I’m not talking about the PC side of it,” she said.

“God is moving me in more than one way than just this show. It’s bigger than this show. I’m doing God’s work now… and I’m not doing anything else.”

She did say, however, that she was not leaving the series because of any on-set drama and said that it was a personal choice to depart.

“I’m not leaving because I had a terrible time working at The CW,” she said.

“I like the CW. I like [CW network president] Mark Pedowitz, I like [Warner Bros. president] Peter Roth, [EP] Greg Berlanti, I love [showrunner] Salim [Akil], I always will. He gets it. And people that actually know me, they know why I make the decisions that I make.”

The actress went on to congragulate Akil and co-star Jordan Calloway following the recent announcement that a spinoff is in development.

“Congratulations to Salim and Jordan, who just got a spinoff. Please support him in that. God did that for him, and he’s going to do great, I know it,” McClain added.

The popular series stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce, McClain as Jennifer Pierce, Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce, Christine Adams as Lynn Stewart, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III as Tobias Whale, James Remar as Peter Gambi, Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi, and Calloway as Khalil Payne.

Have a look at the full video below.