Ultimately, it looks like Will Smith and Chris Rock won’t be brought to the table.
After 5 seasons of viral interviews and astonishing voiceovers, Red Table Chat banned according to facebook Deadline.
On Wednesday, the outlet reported that Mina Lefevre, Head of Development and Programming at Meta, was laid off during a new pivot for its subsidiary Facebook. The social media platform, which launched its streaming service Facebook Watch in 2017, is downsizing its original programming to focus on virtual reality content.
With new layoffs, talk show directed by Jada Pinkett Smith Red Table Chat was left on the slaughterhouse floor. The series, which began in 2018, wrapped up its original run last December. Westbrook Studios, Pinkett Smith’s production company with her husband Smith, is currently looking for a new distributor.
Co-hosted by Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris Red Table Chat it soon became the coveted press stop to discuss more serious, often taboo topics that celebrity daytime or late-night shows don’t allow. Pinkett Smith’s guests often used the platform to address scandals or push back public narratives about their lives.
Most notably, the Smiths devoted a section to addressing allegations that Pinkett Smith had an affair, or rather “mess” with R&B singer August Alsina in 2020. rumors of polyamory surrounding their marriage.
Viewers had also predicted that Smith would come to the show to address the infamous Oscar slap. Pinkett Smith spoke briefly about the incident a few months after last year’s Academy Awards, saying he wanted Smith and Rock “to have an opportunity to heal, to talk about this and reconcile.” However, the episode was devoted to discussing the alopecia Pinkett Smith suffered from, adding some context to Rock’s. GI Jane joke.
Another notable guest of the show was the influencer Jordyn Woods, who got involved in a cheating scandal with Khloe Kardashian’s ex-partner Tristan Thompson.
It’s hard to believe that such a successful talk show, apparently admired by celebrities, will disappear forever. It’s even harder to imagine what Facebook’s new programming roster that will focus on “VR shows first” would look like without it.