Why Did Jimmy Get Shot on 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'?

Who else remembers when Drake, now famous for his feuds with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Metro Boomin, played Jimmy on Degrassi: The Next Generation?

The Canadian show actually kickstarted the star's career — back then he was known as Aubrey Graham.

A storyline that really gripped fans was when Jimmy got shot. What happened on the show that landed the character in a wheelchair? Here's what you need to know.

The episode people are still talking about all these years later was called “Time Stands Still,” and first aired in October 2004.

A bullied student named Rick shoots Jimmy in the back. At first, the character blames himself, thinking he was the main culprit of the bullying, and deserves what happened to him.

But later, Spinner admits to his friend that he was behind the incident that pushed the bullied student over the edge.

Although the storyline ended up being huge for Drake's career, per Nylon, he had reservations about even doing it in the first place. Writer James Hurst explained that the now-rapper almost walked away from Degrassi unless he agreed to change the trajectory of the series.

James told Nylon that at one point, he got a letter from a Toronto law firm claiming that Drake didn't want to continue on Degrassi if Jimmy was going to be using a wheelchair.

“It was an odd letter that said, ‘Aubrey Graham will not return to Degrassi Season 6 as Jimmy Brooks unless his injury is healed, and he is out of the wheelchair,'” James explained to the outlet.

The reason that Drake wasn't fond of the storyline?

“All my friends in the rap game say I’m soft because I’m in a wheelchair," Drake told him, according to James.

“Tell your friends in the rap game that you got shot. How much harder can you get?” James claimed to have told Drake.

And he agreed to move forward.

“He was so nice and apologetic about everything,” James said, adding Drake "instantly backed down.”

“I was very passionate about it,” James said about the storyline. “I said, ‘Aubrey, there’s some kid somewhere in a wheelchair, who’s completely ignored, who’s never on television, never gets represented. I need you to represent this person. You’re the coolest kid on the show, and you can say there’s nothing wrong with being in a wheelchair.’”

Even though Drake hasn't been on the TV show since 2009, fans are still talking about his memorable turn as Jimmy on Degrassi.

One hilarious tweet draws a comparison between past and present in terms of his beefs. "Drake started off his career as Jimmy on Degrassi, he gets shot by the character RICK. Who else is has a problem with Drake… kendRICK."

Many fans demand on social media that Drake return to acting. So will that ever happen?

In 2017, he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m sure I’ll stop [making music] one day. When it starts to feel like I’m making it up. Hopefully I’ll catch it before I ever get there, right? But right now it feels like we just started, so I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon."

"But I do plan on expanding — to take six months or a year to myself and do some great films," Drake continued. "Music’s always there …. When I get back into acting, I want to do things that make people go, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that.’”