Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk Cancelled by Meta

In a move that will surprise many, Facebook parent company Meta has cancelled the hit talk show Red Table Talk. Hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, plus her daughter Willow Smith, and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, the series began in May of 2018 and ran for over 120 episodes on the social media platform. Deadline brings word that Red Table Talk has been given the ax, however there is hope it could turn up somewhere else. The ending of this show on Facebook marks the conclsuion of original content being produced for the website with Mina Lefevre, Head of Development and Programming at Meta, leaving the company. Red Table Talk was the last original Facebook Watch TV series.

Red Table Talk was largely a panel discussion series, built around the premise that the three generations of women from the same family would have different perspectives on a subject. The series notably tackled an array of subjects ranging from episodes like “Does Porn Ruin Relationships?” to “Suicide Attempt Survivors Speak Out.” Jada Pinkett Smith also notably used the platform of the series to confirm an “entanglement” while she and Will Smith were separated. There was also a major episode wherein Leah Remini reunited with Jada and Will to discuss her public accusations that the couple are members of the Church of Scientology. 

There was also no shortage of surprise guests on Red Table Talk including Will Smith’s ex-wife, Sheree Fletcher; Gabrielle Union; Tiffany Haddish; Don Lemon; plus a slew of guests for Jada’s 50th birthday which was its own episode. Red Table Talk also saw other celebrity families appear, with Demi Moore and daughters Rumer Willis & Tallulah Willis; Matthew McConaughey and his mother; and Bobby Brown & Alicia Etheredge-Brown. It also spawned a spinoff series, Red Table Talk: The Estefans, starring Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan and Lili Estefan.

Red Table Talk was previously nominated for Outstanding Talk Show/Informative at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2019 and actually won the award in 2021. Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris were all nominated for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host as well.

Did they talk about The Slap on Red Table Talk?

Red Table Talk was also one of the places where the Smiths addressed the Oscar slap. In an episode on Alopecia just a few months later, Jada briefly talked about it, noting, “Now about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile. The state of the world today, we need them both, and we all actually need one another more than ever.”