Ziwe Fumudoh, known professionally just as Ziwe, burst onto the scene in 2017 with her social media series, Baited with Ziwe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she took her show from YouTube and began hosting it on Instagram Live. Since then, she has amassed nearly 600,000 Instagram followers, becoming one of social media's favorite it girls. Her fashion and lifestyle content garnered widespread support, and in May 2021, her self-titled Showtime talk show debuted. Ziwe interviewed a number of guests, asking quirky questions in her standard lighthearted interview style. Sadly, Showtime announced this week that the network had parted ways with the late-night talk show.
The series only got two seasons, and with each episode becoming more hilariously awkward, it appeared Ziwe had a promising future with Showtime. Vulture TV called her interview style the "art of discomfort." During her tenure with the network, she sat down with a laundry list of guests, including politician Andrew Yang and comedian Hannibal Buress. On March 23rd, the 31-year-old shared a screen grab from her show but has not posted much on social media since. It's unclear if she knew the end of her series was near.
Ziwe Appeared To Have A Promising Career With Showtime
The cancellation stunned fans, and while Ziwe did not confirm anything, a change in Showtime's leadership could be to blame. Showtime CEO David Nevins left the company last year. Since then, Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Paramount Media Networks has rebranded the network. This is how Paramount+ With Showtime came about in early 2023. It appears Showcase pushed Ziwe's cable show to the waist side. Some fans across social media have even blamed the cancellation on racism. In place of Ziwe, the network has ordered Mandy Patinkin's comedy series, Seasoned.
Fans are now threatening to boycott the network and the streaming platform. Some blame fellow fans for failing to support the series. As one Twitter user wrote, people "never ONCE turned the actually show on." Ziwe is the latest urban-style show to be canceled. Desus & Mero was scrapped after four seasons last year, shortly after the duo announced they were splitting up after years of establishing their comedic rise. Luckily, Ziwe has other endeavors lined up, such as the release of her new book, The Book of Ziwe. The influencer will likely be fine.