Live PD is over, at least for now, after A&E announced Wednesday that it canceled its highest-rated reality TV show.
As protests demanding police reform sweep the nation following the in-custody death of George Floyd, the cable network and the production company behind the show came to an agreement that there was no future for the series in its current form.
The cancellation comes a month after A&E renewed the law enforcement reality show for an additional 160 episodes.
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In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, A&E said the decision to cease production on Live PD was made because of it being “a critical time in our nation’s history.”
“Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear pathway to tell the stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them,” the statement said. “And with that, we will be meeting with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments.”
The cancellation of Live PD came just a day after Paramount Network announced it will stop airing its long-running police show, Cops, as Urban Hollywood 411 previously reported. Both shows follow police officers on patrol in “real-time,” and were criticized for the way they appeared to showcase a one-sided depiction of arrests that tended to favor police perspectives.
Earlier this week, media outlets in Austin, Texas, reported on the death of Javier Ambler, a black man who died in March 2019 while in custody during a police stop. According to the Austin American-Statesman, video footage of Ambler’s death was allegedly filmed by a Live PD crew but the video was destroyed.
Live PD host Dan Abrams took to Twitter Wednesday and said he was “shocked and beyond disappointed” when he heard about the cancellation. Responses to the tweet were mixed.
“I am so disappointed by A&E if anything Live PD showed the viewers exactly what an officer goes through on a daily basis. As a biracial person I am shocked that A&E has no spine that they just ducked and coward and slinked away,” one person replied.
“Don’t throw out clips of someone dying in police custody next time,” one person tweeted.
“Maybe it’s time to boycott A&E and any sister networks,” someone else suggested.
