Ice Cube Pays Tribute To John Witherspoon On ‘Next Friday’ 20th Anniversary

Ice Cube marked the bittersweet 20th anniversary of Next Friday with a tribute to John Witherspoon on Tuesday (Jan. 14).

“20 Years since ‘Next Friday,’” Cube captioned a photo of Witherspoon from the film. “Miss you Pops.”

Released in 2000, the comedy sequel starring Cube, Witherspoon, Mike Epps, Don “DC” Curry and Thomas “Tiny” Lister Jr., made close to $60 million at the box office, nearly doubling that of its 1995 predecessor.

Witherspoon planned to re-team with Cube for Last Friday, the long awaited fourth installment of the franchise create by Cube and DJ Pooh. The film was in pre-production prior to Witherspoon’s sudden death.

Last month, Cube shared an update on the film’s future given Witherspoon’s passing. “Back to the drawing board since New Line Cinema was slow on green lighting the LAST FRIDAY script that was full of Mr. Jones,” he tweeted in response to a fan. “I’ve been pissed off about it since Spoon passed away.”