Entertainment

The 'Degrassi' Cast Revealed Top Secret Info From Drake's Reunion Video & It's AMAZING

On Wednesday, June 13 Drake released the video for "I'm Upset," which included cameos from almost every single one of his former costars from Degrassi: The Next Generation. While fans were certainly glad to see many of the familiar faces in the vid, details about how Drake's Degrassi reunion video came together are pretty amazing.

The rapper, who played basketball star Jimmy Brooks in the teen drama for eight years, reportedly put the whole thing together in less than two weeks, according former cast members Shane Kippel (Spinner) and Ephraim Ellis (Rick). In a discussion with TMZ, the pair explained that the video for "I'm Upset" was filmed just one week before its release. Even more impressive, they say that they were only made aware of the idea for the video a few days before production, with Ellis pointing out that he got an email about doing the video last Tuesday.

Kippel said he was surprised when he found out that "Drake was planning to have a big reunion as the concept of his video." He added that he was pitched the idea that he'd be "spending some one on one time, driving around in fancy cars, getting fitted for expensive suits and then show up and crash the party." Concluding that it went off without a hitch, he ended by saying, "I think it went just that way."

Ellis added that the video "really felt like a real high school reunion" because he hadn't seen many of his former cast members in so many years.

The "I'm Upset" video features Drake, aka Jimmy, preparing for his high school reunion with his Degrassi bestie, Spinner. After getting all dressed up, the pair hop in a sweet ride as they make way to meet up with the rest of their crew. Once they arrive at the reunion, just about every main character in the Degrassi: The Next Generation shows up including recurring guest stars, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes.

It seems that Drake, who went by Aubrey Graham on the show, pulled out all the stops for his new vid, getting cameos from over a dozen Degrassi alumni. Stefan Brogren (Snake), Miriam McDonald (Emma), Cassie Steele (Manny), Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (Liberty), Lauren Collins (Paige), Adamo Ruggiero (Marco), Stacey Farber (Ellie), Jake Goldsbie (Toby), Jake Epstein (Craig), Andrea Lewis (Hazel), Christina Schmidt (Terri), Nina Dobrev (Mia), Melissa McIntyre (Ashley), LinLyn Lue (Ms. Kwan), Marc Donato (Derek), Dalmar Abuzeid (Danny), A.J. Saudin (Connor), and Paula Brancati (Jane), can all be spotted in the video.

Despite the large turnout, many fans took notice of the fact that actor Ryan Cooley who played J.T. was not included in Drake's Degrassi reunion. However, it turns out, that Drake actually had an answer for his absence. Responding to a fan's Instagram comment which read, "I'm upset... Because you didn't bring back JT," Drake, who starred on the series for eight seasons before his rise to hip-hop superstardom, responded that Cooley "thought it was a scam."

Daniel Clark, who played Sean Cameron on Degrassi: The Next Generation from 2001 to 2008 was also noticeably missing from the gathering. Clark claims that he was never contacted about the participating, telling Page Six, “No one ever reached out to me about this. I have no idea even when it was filmed. I woke up this morning and watched the music video and was like, ‘What the hell is going on?'”

Although Clark appeared to be pretty bummed out about missing the epic moment, he appeared to be genuinely happy for fans of the series. "The best part is the fans are getting what they want and that’s most important and everyone looks so happy, so that’s kind of the silver lining there," he said. "It looked like everyone was having a great time, but for me, it was kind of sad too, because we were all really like family.”

Page Six also noted that Mike Lobel, who played Jay Hogart on the series for seven seasons, was also not asked to appear in the video. The actor took to Twitter to air his grievances, writing: “I’m a little upset.”

Speaking with Page Six, Lobel shared, “Yeah I honestly don’t have much to say on it, I wasn’t invited to the shoot. I love Aubrey and think he’s a great guy, everyone looked great in the video and I wish I could have been there to hang out with the crew.”

It's too bad that some Degrassi cast members reportedly weren't invited or couldn't make it to the Drake-hosted reunion, but, as any Degrassi fan knows, sometimes you just have to do "whatever it takes."