Former Navarro cheerleader Jerry Harris starred in Cheer's first season, becoming one of the show's breakout stars for his upbeat nature, bubbly personality and motivating mat talk.
However in September 2020, Harris was arrested and charged in federal court for the production of child pornography, and he is alleged to have solicited sex and sexually explicit images from minors. He denies all of the charges against him.
A Texas lawsuit filed at the time was made by two teenagers who alleged "Harris asked the boys to send sexually explicit pictures of themselves and that he asked one of them for a sexual act at a Fort Worth competition," ABC affiliate WFAA reported. The teens were 13 at the time the alleged incidents began, and Harris was 19.
The lawsuit claims that in February 2019 Harris told one of the teenagers to meet him in a secluded bathroom at a cheer competition at the Fort Worth Convention Center, and there he is alleged to have asked the boy to perform oral sex.
A spokesperson for Harris said that the lawsuit was baseless in a statement to Variety In September 2020: "We categorically dispute the claims made against Jerry Harris, which are alleged to have occurred when he was a teenager."
"We are confident that when the investigation is completed the true facts will be revealed."
Harris is currently awaiting trial and remains incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago until his court date. If found guilty, he will face a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence.
With the second season of Cheer set to be released on Netflix on Wednesday, January 12, the question remains, given the case against him, does Jerry Harris appear in Cheer season 2?
Is Jerry Harris in Cheer Season 2?
Yes, Harris does appear in Cheer Season 2, as the first half of the documentary series was filmed in the weeks leading to the National competition in Daytona, Florida and before September 2020, when the allegations first surfaced.
The new season of Cheer opens with the production crew asking Coach Monica Aldama for her reaction after hearing of the allegations.
As a result, the producers ensure that the viewers are aware of the allegations made against Harris from the outset, and also show that they will not shy away from the topic, dedicating the fifth episode, entirely to the topic.
Speaking to Newsweek, director and executive producer Greg Whiteley said the reason they decided to cover the allegations was "very simple."
He explained: "It was very simple. That is just what happened to the team. It would have been impossible to authentically chronicle what Navarro was going through as a cheer team without addressing of the issue of Jerry Harris and what was going on legally with Jerry Harris had such an impact on Monica and the rest of the team, that it just had to be covered. We would be negligent as as documentarians if we didn't address them."
The twins who first made allegations against Harris appear in the episode, as does their mother, a decision Whiteley said was a "great privilege."
He reflected: "It was a great privilege. These are two kids and a mom and if they had every reason in the world, to just stay private and to stay quiet, and especially avoid our cameras but they very graciously agreed to sit and I'm incredibly grateful.
"The whole experience was a difficult one, even for me, I can't imagine what it was like for them but they handled it with an enormous amount of grace and I think being able to tell their side of of the story is really what allowed us to go into the Jerry Harris story and document as fully as we could, at least given the parameters we were given."
Harris does appear in the first four episodes of the new season of Cheer, appearing intermittently alongside his teammates. For example, he is seen training with them on the mat and in one scene films cameos for fans while getting a pedicure.
Harris also features in some solo interviews for the show though these appear to be kept to a minimum, and while he is seen on the mat the camera doesn't focus on him as much as it did in the first season.
Episode 4 of Cheer Season 2 focuses on the impact of the global pandemic on the Navarro and Trinity Valley Community College teams, and they reference the fact how they "never know what could happen" with the camera focusing in on Harris.
The end of Episode 5 of Cheer states Jerry Harris's legal team were approached on a number of occasions but would not agree to be interviewed on camera.
Cheer Season 2 will be released on Netflix on Wednesday, January 12.
