Meta (Facebook) Cancels Red Table Talk

Meta has announced that it will cancel all its original programming on Facebook Watch, including the popular talk show Red Table Talk, hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow Smith and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris. The show, which won an Emmy in 2020, featured candid conversations about social and cultural issues with an intergenerational perspective and celebrity guests.

The decision comes as part of Meta's shift away from expensive original content and towards developing content for virtual reality. Meta is also laying off a total of 21,000 staff members, including the head of the original content group, Mina Lefevre.

Red Table Talk, which started in 2018 and ran for five seasons, was one of the last shows to get the axe after Meta scrapped its original scripted programming in 2020. The show gained millions of followers and made headlines for its revealing episodes, such as when Jada Pinkett Smith admitted to having an "entanglement" with singer August Alsina while separated from her husband Will Smith.

Westbrook Studios, Jada and Will Smith's production company, is looking for a new distributor for the series. In a statement shared on the show's Facebook page, the hosts expressed their gratitude and regret for the cancellation.

"We are so grateful to have had such a beautiful partnership and we are sorry to see the entire team disband," they said. "We wish everyone well in their new journeys to come."

They also added that they are "in talks of finding a new home" for the show.

Red Table Talk fans have expressed their disappointment and sadness over the news on social media, calling the show "inspiring", "empowering" and "groundbreaking". Some have also suggested potential platforms for the show to continue, such as Netflix, Hulu or HBO Max.