Lord Of The Rings TV Show Reportedly Parts Ways With A Key Member Of The Production Team

Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show has reportedly parted ways with renowned J.R.R. Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, one of the world's most knowledgeable experts on the author and his works.

This information comes from another Tolkien scholar, Corey Olsen, who said during a livestream (via TheOneRing.net) that Shippey told him that he's no longer involved. Olsen, who was literally squirming as he replied to a question from a fan about this, declined to share more details out of respect for Shippey.

"I will say, it's not that simple [as Amazon fired Tom Shippey]," Olsen said. "I don't think that's exactly what happened. Like they just up and fired Tom Shippey."

He added: "It's certainly not that simple. Is he still involved? I don't believe so. I'm not 100 percent sure if that is the permanent state of affairs, but I do not believe he is involved as of right now."

Shippey himself has yet to comment officially, while Amazon has not either.

Shippey was one of the numerous big names that Amazon announced for the Lord of the Rings project in August 2019. Shippey, a former professor of Old English at Oxford just like Tolkien, worked with Peter Jackson on the Lord of the Rings trilogy; you may recall he is featured prominently in the bonus features.

The Lord of the Rings TV show was filming in New Zealand earlier this year before Amazon paused production due to the COVID-19 crisis. There is no word yet as to when filming will begin again. New Zealand has some of the strictest lockdown laws anywhere in the world.