‘Red Table Talk’ Canceled as Meta Ends Facebook Watch Originals

Meta has shuttered their Facebook Watch Originals vertical, canceling hit show ‘Red Table Talk,’ hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith.

Meta has folded the Facebook Watch Originals group, with includes shows hosted by Becky G, Steve Harvey, Yara Shahidi, and hit web series Red Table Talk, hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris. The premise of the show was a talk show where three different generations could weigh in with their perspectives on a wide range of topics. News of the show’s cancellation comes following the departure of Mina Lefevre, Head of Development and Programming at Meta, and more than 20,000 employees in the company’s latest round of layoffs.

Produced by Jada and Will Smith’s production company, Westbrook Studios, Red Table Talk focused on social and cultural issues from an intergenerational perspective, with guests including Snoop Dogg, Toni Braxton, Jordyn Woods, Ciara, Common, Bobby Brown, and more. Perhaps the most infamous episode of the series was "Jada Brings Herself to the Table" in July 2020, where the aforementioned co-host sat with Will Smith to discuss her past relationship with R&B singer August Alsina during a turbulent time in their marriage.

Red Table Talk, which launched in May 2018, currently has 11 million Facebook followers, with an active discussion group on the social media platform that has 600,000 members. In October 2020, the spinoff Red Table Talk: The Estefans debuted, hosted by Cuban-American musician Gloria Estefan, her daughter Emily and niece Lili. The following year, the original Red Table Talk would win its first Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Talk Show Informative category.

In the most recent Red Table Talk episode, which aired in December 2022, the hosts reintroduced the cast of the former sitcom A Different World (with Jada also starred in), celebrating the show’s 35th anniversary. Westbrook Studios is reportedly shopping for a new distributor for Red Table Talk.