Ahead of the release of the upcoming Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once And Always reunion special, Amy Jo Johnson, who played the original Pink Ranger Kimberly in the 90s series, clapped back at claims that she didn’t participate in the special because of money. While Amy, 52, didn’t share what her specific reasons were, she asked fans to stop saying it was a financial reason.
https://twitter.com/_amyjojohnson/status/1640026778486861827
Amy responded to the claims in a tweet on Sunday, March 26. She shared some of the possible reasons that she skipped out on the special. “Please stop saying I didn’t do reunion because of money Simply not true,” she wrote. “Maybe I just didn’t want to wear spandex in my 50s or couldn’t go to [New Zealand] for a month.Or none of ur beeswax.”
Aside from saying that it wasn’t due to money, the actress did reveal that the special was filmed before Jason David Frank, who played the original Green Ranger Tommy, died at 49 in November. She said he also didn’t appear in it. “JDF & I both chose not to for our own reasons. They filmed before he passed,” she tweeted.
While she said she wouldn’t be making any surprise appearances, she did compliment her former co-stars David Yost, who played the Blue Ranger, and Walter Jones, who played the Black Ranger, for their work on the reunion in a follow-up tweet. “Excited to see my pals @DavidYost & @WalterEJones rock it though!” she wrote.
Netflix released the trailer for the special on March 21, giving 90s kids a healthy dose of nostalgia. The special will premiere on the streaming platform on April 19. Besides David and Walter, Catherine Sutherland, who took over as the Pink Ranger after Amy left, will reprise her role, and Steve Cardenas, who became the Red Ranger after Austin St. John left, will be the Red Ranger. Other former Power Rangers who will return include Johnny Yong Bosch (Black Ranger), Karan Ashley (Yellow Ranger). Richard Steven Horvitz, who voiced Alpha 5 in many iterations, and Barbara Goodson, who voiced the villain Rita Repulsa, will also both reprise their roles, per IMDb.
When the Mighty Morphin reunion special was first announced in January, Amy did tweet that she hadn’t accepted a role. “For the record I never said no…I just didn’t say yes to what was offered,” she wrote. “But other fun stuff is in-store! Looking forward to watching my friends kick a**!”
While Amy won’t be in the exciting Netflix reboot, she did make a cameo alongside the late Jason David Frank in the 2017 film reboot Power Rangers, which saw a new cast reimagining the beloved 90s show for a new generation as well as old fans.