Desus & Mero: Reported Reason for Duo's Surprising Split Revealed

Desus and Mero have announced their split and the end of their hit late night TV show on Showtime – and now we reportedly have the deeper reason why that shocking end has come. Rumors and social media evidence have centered on a fued between the two hosts that eventually spiraled out into full schism; well, according to a new report, the reason that Desus & Mero ultimately fell out was due to their longtime manager becoming a wedge between Desus, Mero, and Showtime. Hollywood news reporter Matthew Belloni of Puck News broke it down in a recent column: 

Belloni cites five separate sources as confirming the following account of things: 

Supposedly, Desus (Daniel Baker) and Mero (Joel Martinez) had been with show producer and manager Victor Lopez for a long time, but shortly after Thanksgiving of last year, Showtime asked for Lopez to step back and stop attending tapings of the show, as well as meetings, citing what is described as "a$$hole behavior," including bullying and screaming, which led to some formal complaints being filed (Lopez, Desus, Mero, and Showtime would not comment on such incidents). 

The split formed when Desus allegedly sided with Showtime, but Mero allegedly stood by Lopez, who had been with them from their Bodega Boys podcast days. That choosing of sides grew bigger and bigger, to the point that those both on the show and onlooking fans all began to notice things were changing. Desus & Mero stopped their podcast in November; Mero left the group's joint lawer and agent and signed his own new deal with WME; they started doing media and public event appearances separately, and then came the official split. 

The saddest thing about this report on why Desus and Mero split is how Hollywood cliché it really is. Countless duos and groups in entertainment have reached the levels of big success and fame, only to have old ties and loyalties begin to pull stars in different directions. From the sound of things, Desus was ready to expand and evolve with fame, while Mero wanted to stay true to his core beginnings – again, not a new story in entertainment, by any means. 

It's actually funny to look back at the show now and see these fissures first forming  – and clearly cracking wide open in the latest season. Little "jokes" and "jabs" between the hosts carried some of these deeper resentments, and it seems like the epic Bodega Boys chemistry was mostly in fans' imagination. Then again, Desus and Mero often joked just as much about how they split up and fight all the time – so who knows what next week could bring?