Dancer/choreographer Thom White shared some disappointing details about what goes on behind the scenes of a Todrick Hall production. Through a series of juicy tweets, he spilled tea about Todrick’s onset colorism and poor business management. Thom, who was featured in ‘Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels’ and Todrick’s recent release titled ‘F*G’, stated the singer frequently hires multitudes of dancers for unpaid gigs. Reminiscing over the first shoot, Thom says Todrick needed more than 60 performers for the job but lamented he did not have the budget to compensate everyone accordingly. Acknowledging he wasn’t prepared to bear the expense of his talent, Todrick still boasted how much he was spending on the production of the video, which was $60,000 at the time.
Back to ''F*G'', after shooting, I left the set not knowing the amount I was to be paid or who even handles payment. No contracts were involved just Todricks word, which I trusted like a dumbass. pic.twitter.com/RV6jaxrcOO
— Selina Kyle (@thomeography) October 15, 2019
Adding further insult to injury, Thom shared Todrick often made comments about the sheer number of Black dancers in his ensemble and went so far as to request “lighter people” to stand behind him. According to Thom, a tour dancer overheard the comments as well. During Thom’s second appearance, a paid opportunity, Todrick remarked it was weird that ‘F*G’ was his first time having an exclusively Black cast for his video. The ‘Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels’ video was subjected to harsh criticism for its outright whitewashing of ballroom culture. During a Ballroom scene, the infamous ‘Dip’ was renamed “shablam” and negatively received by viewers. However, Todrick was unmoved by Thom who attempted to explain the importance of maintaining the lingo of a heavily appropriated space.
The coon jumped OUT on set.. A lot of Black gays were standing behind him in a shot & he turned to us to say ''this is looking a little too chocolate... Can I get some lighter people behind me''.. Chile me & 1 of his tour dancers (?) locked eyes & made the same face.... over it pic.twitter.com/SufKIGwBNN
— Selina Kyle (@thomeography) October 15, 2019
When it comes to paying what is owed, Todrick allegedly has a history of underperforming. The entertainer has been accused of non-payment by numerous dancers including Thom White, RDPR alum Manila Luzon, and a production assistant. Claiming to have worked on Todrick’s Forbidden visual album, the crew member says “Team Todrick” wasn’t responding to invoices, leaving several teams to threaten a walk-out. Manila stepped into Todrick’s Twitter mentions to nudge him about non-payment for hosting his 2018 Halloween Ball. But the details of Thom’s attempts to collect payment take the cake. After failing to remit the funds, Todrick ghosted the dancer, ignoring his calls, texts, and Instagram direct messages. Even reaching out to agencies to collect the debt was unsuccessful. According to Thom, several agencies tried to help but BLOC came right out and said Todrick’s camp was “bad, in general”, implying they refrain from doing business with him because of his history.
After about 100 tweets exposing Todd’s questionable behavior, the man himself came out of the closet to say his piece…
My comment; I adore Thom, like LOVE him. This is surprising to me, he hasn’t been paid yet, he will be...not because he’s trying to “expose” me but because he deserves it. I only got two texts, no calls, I was over seas opening my tour & that video has only been out for 2 weeks.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) October 15, 2019
