Dave Redmon Addresses His Firing From Ice Road Truckers
The firing of cast members from History's "Ice Road Truckers" may not be as frequent as on a show like "Deadliest Catch," where deckhands often get kicked off the boat while in the middle of a violent shouting match, all of which is recorded on camera. However, it has still happened a number of times throughout the series.
One notable instance is the time that "Ice Road Truckers" mainstay Hugh Rowland decided to fire almost all of his employees, claiming that they had all "changed" due to their perceived fame and the constant presence of cameras at work. Where another show might have captured all of this and presented it in dramatic fashion during an episode of "Ice Road Truckers," this event primarily happened behind the scenes and was only revealed during an interview between Rowland and YouTuber Joshua Nannie.
That said, one particularly memorable instance of a cast member being fired during an episode came during a Season 5 episode when trucker Dave Redmon is fired due to his perceived poor performance and his dislike of other drivers. Redmon actually spoke out about this firing shortly after it happened, claiming that the entire ordeal was completely planned and scripted.
Redmon says that his firing was completely scripted
In a 2011 interview with Truckers News, Dave Redmon claimed that his firing from "Ice Road Truckers" was entirely scripted, as the showrunners had decided that he should be portrayed as an antagonist throughout Season 5 (via Overdrive).
"I know it doesn't look that way on TV, obviously," Redmon explained. "They had scripted me to be the bad guy on the show, and it just scripted me to get fired." Redmon went on to address how the show had portrayed him as a bad team player with an attitude problem and explained that while he may not have gotten along with all of the other drivers, he was still doing his job well when he was fired.
This accusation from Redmon claiming that his firing was done for dramatic purposes echoes previous allegations that "Ice Road Truckers" is actually staged. Another former cast member named Rick Yemm once claimed that the truckers you see within the series are actually forced into certain character archetypes by the History Channel and that those archetypes don't actually reflect their real-life personalities (via Huliq). Although it's unlikely we'll ever know the truth about Redmon's exit from the series, it certainly is quite interesting to hear his side of the story —- especially considering the prior accusations of staging drama on "Ice Road Truckers."