LaVerne Ganner

## LaVerne Thomas

* Power
* Raising Kanan

**LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas** is a major character in the Power universe, serving as a major antagonist in Power and the tritagonist in Power Book III: Raising Kanan. She is portrayed by Anika Noni Rose and Hailey Kilgore.

In Power, She served as one of the two secondary antagonists of season 3, the tertiary antagonist in season 4 and a mentioned character in season 5

In Raising Kanan, she serves as one of the deuteragonists of season 1-3.

## Biography

### Past

LaVerne Ganner, who goes by the street name Jukebox, who knows Ghost from way back. She can be ruthless and utterly without mercy when dealing with members of her crew who disobey her orders or cause unnecessary liabilities. She runs a side business, which includes using young thugs to pull armed robberies, using her position as a patrol officer to throw off suspicion.

Jukebox had a very close relationship with Kanan since they were kids, this was made obvious by the fact that he went to her for help after surviving Ghost's attack. She revealed how Kanan was the first person she revealed her sexuality to (how she is a lesbian), while Kanan was also very comfortable sharing intimate details about himself with her. Jukebox eventually moved to Washington D.C. where she became a member of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the National Black Police Association. She began a relationship with Candie and formed her own crew.

### Power Book III: Raising Kanan

#### Season 1

She is showing to be the loving Cousin of Kanan, giving him advice and describing how their family works. Jukebox is first seen in the flashback of 1985 where she is held back by bullies who were beating up on her cousin. She tries to defend him but is unable to as his money is taken by the bullies as they proceed to make fun of him before he runs off, despite her pleading to him to come back. Eventually he returns with a sock full of batteries and at the behest of his mother, beats up to bullies in revenge for their actions.

### Season 3

She first appears as she she foils a robbery in a drugstore and openly kills both the robber and the clueless clerk. The police officer then returns to her home to a waiting girlfriend. She’s also got a temporary house guest, Kanan. He’s recovering from a battle with Ghost and was badly disfigured and burned.

Kanan had to be deprived of pain medication to tell his cousin the whole story of how he ended up in this state, including murdering his own son, a fact that she accepted with no judgement, stating that Shawn picked Ghost over him.

Once assured of his his improved condition, she lets Kanan join her crew as they rob a jewellery store, later reporting to the Police Department that the assailants were white males to throw them off the scent.

Jukebox appears later as Kanan is bonding with Ghost's son Tariq and tests him to see if he is loyal to them, which he seemingly passes. She then advises her cousin to kill the boy. In order to lure Ghost out, they later drug Tariq and then text a picture of him to Ghost's wife Tasha demanding a ransom for their son's life.

### Season 4

Jukebox and Kanan are waiting for Tasha to respond to their ransom demand when Dre shows up, informing them that Ghost was arrested a few hours back.

After hearing of Ghost's arrest, Jukebox sees Ghost being locked up as an opportunity to put even more pressure on Tasha and Ghost to deliver the ransom money. Dre interjects and tells Kanan that he is in a better position to put some money in his hand by getting Kanan back in the drug game. Dre proposes that he can get Kanan 10K a week, Jukebox and Ray Ray jump in and says 15k a week for each of them. Tariq is later released as plans changed.

When Ghost is released from jail, Jukebox (realizing Ghost could access his money again) seizes the opportunity and kidnaps Tariq with the intent to kill him and his father afterwards. Jukebox has Kanan track Ghost down, which he later does by ambushing him outside of his club as Ghost is surprised to see him alive. Kanan and Ghost rob Tommy's operation to pay both him and Jukebox off for Tariq.

Just as Tariq tries to leave, Jukebox knocks him out and ties him up. Jukebox finds out that's she’s getting double crossed. She pulls a gun on Tariq and starts spilling secrets. “Tell him who you really are,” she commands Kanan, who does as she says, confessing that he’s a “no-good motherf–ker” who wanted to hurt Ghost, “so I used you.” and Kanan even admits to killing Shawn. Jukebox is eventually gunned down by Kanan after threatening to kill Tariq during the standoff.

## Murders connected to Jukebox

* **Clerk**: Ordered Wookie to shoot him for triggering the alarm.

## Goals

* Finding out the truth about Shawn and Ghost (succeeded)
* Rob Tivoli Jewelry Store via her crew plus Kanan (succeeded)
* Get ransom money from the Saint Patrick Family (failed)
* Kill Ghost and Tariq (failed)

## Trivia

* When Anika Noni Rose was first cast on the show Deadline reported her character would be named LaVerne “Jukebox” Thomas. However during her first appearance on the show a news report mentioned her name to be LaVerne Ganner.
	+ It is later confirmed that LaVerne Thomas is her real name in Raising Kanan.
	+ It is implied she may have changed it to hide her relation to the Thomas Family.
	+ It was confirmed she may have been in the military.
* Jukebox was an officer of the Metropolitan Police Department and a veteran member of the National Black Police Association.
* She was called Jukebox by her friends and family because she can switches and imitate the voices of some celebrities.
* Jukebox never met Tommy in Power, however when Ghost mentioned Jukebox to Tommy he recognised the name suggesting that they may have met before the events of Power.
* In Tariq’s storyline in season 3-4, she served as the secondary antagonist. She is older than Kanan by at least two years
* When her father was in prison, her aunt Raq took to raising her while becoming a mother figure to Juke, emphasizing their close nature.
* In Raising Kanan series she was in a singing group called "Butta"
* She stated Kanan was the first to find out her sexuality. This is shown in the prequel where he is the only member to find out about her relationship with Nicole and later her aunt Raquel found out and supported her while her father was outraged but soon came around.
* In the past when her and Kanan were younger, It was told by Courtney Kemp Jukebox put the scar on Kanan's neck in a fight they had.

## Appearances

### Power

#### Season 3

* I Got This on Lock
* Don't Worry, Baby
* In My Best Interest

#### Season 4

* When I Get Out
* Don't Thank Me
* New Man