In the latest round of layoffs at HBO Max, the non-scripted community is devastated

David Zaslav’s new administration at Warner Bros Discovery promised sweeping changes at the studio, and in recent weeks, some of these plans have become apparent. Batgirl was abruptly canceled and several Warner Bros. properties disappeared from their own streaming service, as well as massive layoffs and the abrupt cancellation of straight to HBO Max Batgirl.

With the newly merged company reporting a third-quarter net loss of $3.4 billion and declining revenue, Zaslav has made his intentions clear. As shows and movies are being canceled left and right, a new report from Deadline reveals that the non-scripted community is “devastated” as a number of diverse shows and their casts are soon to be affected.

HBO Max, the studios’ streaming service, will merge with Discovery+ next summer. It is feared that the new combined service will result in budget cuts and cancellations. In recent years, HBO Max had become a haven for original reality series — Selena Gomez’s cooking show Selena+Chef has enjoyed a successful 4-season run, and Queer Eye producer Scout Productions’ voguing competition series Legendary has been praised for bringing something new to the table.

In terms of non-scripted series, Netflix usually spends nearly four times as much as Discovery does. There has been no cancellation or renewal announcement yet for these shows, but they have a better chance than Natasha Rothwell’s dating show 12 Dates of Christmas, Yvonne Orji-hosted dating show My Mom, Your Dad, Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Tattletales reboot About Last Night, Generation Hustle, Generation+ion, and more.

“That’s two years of my life gone, and many collaborators,” said the creator of the show scheduled for removal, calling the decision “heartbreaking.”  In addition to Warner Bros Discovery’s controversial decisions, they affect the diversity of its projects. Leslie Grace’s debut as the first Afro-Latina Batgirl was canceled by the studio, causing much backlash. Having canceled unscripted series, the studio now faces another wave of backlash.

A number of shows like About Last Night, My Mom Your Dad, and others have diverse casts and crews both in front and behind the camera. As a consequence of cost-cutting, the studio’s relationships with talent may be put at risk. It was revealed by one source: Warner Bros Discovery has yet to reveal the full extent of its cost-reduction plan. 

Robert Poirrer

Robert Poirrer is a contributing author who covers Hollywood latest movie releases and web series for the MovieThop website. He has a decade of experience in writing movies based articles for numerous renowned media outlets. He is excellent at creating unique content based on emerging trends in a variety of categories especially entertainment, movies and lifestyle. When not writing articles you could find Robert enjoying mountain biking trips with his friends. He graduated in English Literature from North Carolina State University.