During his time on Degrassi, Jimmy Brooks was a basketball star and a member of the school’s most popular group. He remained humble and open-minded, despite the fact that he had an extremely wealthy family.
However, when Jimmy Brooks was paralyzed following the shooting in Eye of the Tiger, his life changed forever. The teen drama’s writers crafted a storyline that saw Jimmy in a wheelchair for several seasons, and it seems not everyone was on board with this idea.
According to former Degrassi writer James Hurst, Drake (whose real name is Aubrey Graham) allegedly threatened legal action against the show if it didn’t make changes for Jimmy in his wheelchair arc. In a new oral history of the series, Hurst says that the rapper — who was still known by his stage name at the time, Drake — worried that being in a wheelchair would “make him look soft” and he feared it would harm his future acting career.
He also argued that his character’s disability was important to the series and the portrayal of wheelchair users, as they are rarely represented on TV. And, in addition to defending his character, he praised the show for using wheelchairs to bring attention to the challenges facing people with disabilities.
As a result, Hurst said he was not able to convince the rapper to change his mind. But he did use the opportunity to remind him that Jimmy’s experience was important to Degrassi and its viewers, and that he could not be a “soft” actor because of his wheelchair.
In Season 4, Jimmy Brooks was shot and injured during a school shooting. Despite the fact that he had a good relationship with Spinner Mason, he was very upset at the fact that he was paralyzed. He fought with Spinner about the incident, but eventually decided to forgive him.
During the next season, Jimmy was once again in a wheelchair, and even though he had made progress with his recovery, he still found it difficult to stand and walk. He was determined to graduate, but when he was informed that he couldn’t get the credits necessary for graduation, he was forced to stay in school one more year.
Although he still struggled with his condition, Jimmy was able to make some progress and started dating Ashley Kerwin. He was not interested in playing the “boyfriend” role, but he was proud to be her “voice of reason.”
They were both very close to Hazel. She was a great support for him, and she helped him cope with his injury. She also gave him a place to live and she even helped him get wheelchair rims for his scooter, so that he was able to ride it around town.
When he was at the hospital, Jimmy had a lot of support from Craig Manning and Marco Del Rossi, who arranged for him to see Kid Elrick perform onstage in Secret (2). He was also very well taken care of, especially by Hazel.
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