Afton Williamson

Early life and education

Williamson was born in Toledo, Ohio. Williamson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Career

Williamson started as the understudy to Kerry Washington in the 2010 Broadway play Race before succeeding Washington in the role of Susan. Later she has made her television debut appearing in an episode of The Good Wife. Williamson later guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods, and Elementary. She had recurring roles on the CBS drama A Gifted Man from 2011 to 2012 as Autumn, and the first season of the television series Nashville as Makena. From 2014 to 2015, she had a regular role in the Cinemax network original series Banshee. In film, she made her debut in the 2011 drama Pariah.

In 2016, Williamson was cast in a leading role on the VH1 drama series The Breaks. She starred as Officer Wiggins in the 2016 HBO miniseries The Night Of.

In 2018, Williamson was cast in the ABC drama series The Rookie. In 2019, Williamson quit the show citing claims of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and assault. TVLine had reported that Williamson, who portrayed Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, stated that she had left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department." Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.

All involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit, and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. Williamson, Afton. (2019-09-07). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "On September 7th, 1984 1:43pm in room 143 in Flower Hospital, Sylvania OH A Queen..."".
2. "Afton Williamson Resume".
3. Mellini, Michael. (July 1, 2010). "Afton C. Williamson Races Ahead From Understudy to Leading Lady". Zap2It.
4. (4 January 2016). "Afton Williamson on Comparing 'Empire' to 'The Breaks': 'I Kind of Cringe'".
5. Petski, Denise. (1 June 2015). "VH1 Hip-Hop Movie 'The Breaks' Sets Cast".
6. Andreeva, Nellie. (7 February 2018). "'The Rookie': Eric Winter & Afton Williamson To Co-Star In ABC Series".
7. Ausiello, Michael. (7 February 2018). "The Rookie: Afton Williamson Cast as Nathan Fillion's New Partner in Crime".
8. (2019-08-04). "'The Rookie' Star Afton Williamson Claims Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Assault Led to Series Exit".
9. Williamson, Afton. (2019-08-04). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "I will not be returning for Season 2 of The Rookie. I owe it to you my amazing fans..."".
10. (2025-08-21). "Sallie Nicole Hotch {{!}} Make-Up Department".
11. Mitovich, Matt. (August 4, 2019). "Afton Williamson Quit The Rookie After Allegations of Sexual Harassment, Racial Bullying Went Largely Ignored".
12. Otterson, Joe. (September 17, 2019). "Afton Williamson 'Rookie' Investigation: Studio Finds No 'Inappropriate' Workplace Behavior". Variety.
13. Williamson, Afton. (2019-09-18). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "What saddens me the most is that the lengths that were taken to Deceive,..."".
14. Mandell, Angela. (September 17, 2019). "Afton Williamson responds after 'Rookie' investigation finds 'no inappropriate behavior'".