“Red Table Talk,” the social media show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, which co-stars her daughter, Willow Smith, and mother, Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris, has been canceled. The Facebook Watch Originals program was among several series dropped from the platform.
The news was first shared yesterday (April 26) by Deadline when the outlet announced Mina Lefevre, the head of development and programming at Meta, would be leaving Facebook’s parent company. The social network brand has already lost approximately 20,000 employees due to recent layoffs. Deadline noted that “Red Table Talk” and other popular programs got axed as Facebook revamps the brand to focus on VR experiences in Meta Horizon Worlds that can also be used on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
“Facebook really had the audacity to cancel [hashtag] ‘Red Table Talk’ after all of the iconic moments they’ve given us?” one person tweeted. Their post included several photos of past guests, including Jordyn Woods, Snoop Dogg and the family’s patriarch, Will Smith. But just because the series will no longer be produced by Meta doesn’t mean fans have to say “goodbye” for good. TODAY reported that Pinkett Smith is shopping the show around for a new distributor.
“I think it’s a good thing. [Jada Pinkett Smith has] built a following. I’m sure she can land on a larger network,” one person tweeted in response to the news. Others wanted to make it clear that “Red Table Talk” was not being specifically singled out: “Facebook shut down all original programming. It wasn’t just her show. Make sure you read articles and check sources. She can also [YouTube] her show. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. If you do, it will [probably] be on another platform soon.” As for now, there have been no official statements from any of the show’s hosts.
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