A deleted post from Shawn Fonteno, the actor behind Grand Theft Auto 5 co-protagonist Franklin Clinton, has suggested the character may return in Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).
Ahead of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, set for early December, Fonteno posted cryptically on X (formerly Twitter): “If I told ya’ll I’d get in trouble”. Fonteno deleted the post shortly afterward, while Ned Luke – Fonteno’s co-star as the voice of gangster Michael De Santa – replied: “Man go play Modern Warfare“.
As a result, fans have speculated that either Fonteno will reprise his role as Franklin in GTA 6, return in some other way, or that the actor is merely trolling fans. One fan suggests:
“What Shawn Fonteno and Ned Luke and other former cast & crew of Rockstar Games (Blast Crew) are doing is just their last chance for being on vibes. Because they know that after the GTA VI reveal, they will be completely forgotten”
This isn’t the first casting rumour related to GTA 6. Earlier this year rapper 50 Cent deleted a series of social media posts that fans were speculating could be related to Grand Theft Auto 6 after a series of posts included the logo for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and that the rapper was involved in something “bigger than [50 Cent’s TV Drama] Power”.
The rapper later confirmed the posts were unrelated to Rockstar’s game, but instead related to a TV series he’s working on which has the working title ‘Vice City’.
Earlier in the year, Grand Theft Auto 6 was the subject of a major leak that led to early development footage of the game appearing online. The hacker, a teenager from Oxfordshire, reportedly carried out the attack from a Travelodge hotel and was later found unfit to stand trial.
Following the leak, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two confirmed the incident was “terribly disappointing” but would have no bearing on the game’s development.
In other gaming news, Rockstar Games has shared a brand new Grand Theft Auto Spotify playlist in anticipation of the series’ 25th anniversary.