What happened to Big Chief? The real reason behind leaving Street Outlaws

Big Chief

Big Chief, also known as Justin Shearer, has been an integral part of Discovery’s reality racing show Street Outlaws for a long time. His additional appearances on Street Outlaws’ spinoff programs such as No Prep Kings and America’s List cemented him as a talented and likable racer.

However, when the fourth season of No Prep Kings rolled around in the fall of 2021, Big Chief was notably absent from the show. He was also nowhere to be seen in the second season of America’s List, leading viewers to speculate whether he had been fired from the show or left on his own accord.

Rumors claimed that Big Chief’s alleged feud with fellow cast member Precious Cooper caused him to leave

When Big Chief seemingly disappeared from both of Street Outlaws’ most popular shows, there was neither an official announcement from the network nor a personal statement from him to explain his absence.

Viewers were under the impression that Chief would be participating in the shows since he had been prepping his car for the upcoming races, as seen in his Instagram posts. Initially, fans thought that Chief could be taking a temporary break from the show for undisclosed private matters.

Once it became evident that he would not be returning at all, rumors about his alleged feud with fellow cast member Precious Cooper came to light. It was reported that the resentment between the two was the reason behind Chief’s decision to step down from America’s List.

Some harsher rumors claimed that Chief left on bad terms with the cast after having a major argument on set while others said that he retired to focus on his family. But no one actually knew what truly happened.

Big Chief broke his silence and said that he left because he disagreed with the show’s new direction

After laying low from the public eye for a few months, Big Chief finally cleared the air and spelled out the reason for leaving the show. He confirmed and explained his decision in an hour-long video posted on his YouTube channel Midwest Street Cars.

The video, which was uploaded on March 24, 2022, came just three days after the premiere of the second season of America’s List. Chief addressed the rumors surrounding the situation and firmly denied them, also assuring fans that he was not retiring from racing.

“A lot of people are saying that I was broke or I didn’t make it in or I didn’t want to race. Supposedly everybody’s saying that when I went [to the show], they told me I have to race my way in and I got mad or left or whatever. That’s not the case at all,” he said.

Chief alluded to a ‘lot of issues’ that changed how he felt about Street Outlaws. He revealed that he left after learning that the production was headed in a different direction.

He preferred the show to be ‘as street as possible’ with a particular focus on racing and disagreed with the production’s shift towards dramatizing the events.

“The direction that things are going in, the changes that are being made, and the way things are being done don’t even resemble something that I helped build. There’s no way that I would ever agree to 10 years of this… I can’t stand up there and defend rules and decisions that I didn’t make and don’t agree with. I don’t think are best for the show, for us, for everyone involved,” said Chief.